{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJason Ryan Murphy is an incumbent District 3 (Hiwassee Dam) member of the Cherokee County Board of Education. He led a three-candidate Republican primary field on March 3, 2026 with 44.32% of the vote, finishing ahead of fellow incumbent Shannon Raper (31.24%) and Gary Butler. Murphy and Raper both advance to the November 3, 2026 general election, which has two seats open; they face Democrat Joy Stein and unaffiliated candidate Carmen Owens Garland [1].\n\n## Background\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, Murphy is a registered voter in Cherokee County, North Carolina, registered since 2006 (20 years), with party affiliation listed as Republican [2].\n\nThe voter file shows Murphy's year of birth as 1988; NC publishes only the year of birth in its bulk voter export, so day and month are not part of the public record [2].\n\nThe voter history file shows 10 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the 2026-03-03 primary election [3].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Voters toss incumbents in Cherokee County elections \u2013 Cherokee Scout](https://www.cherokeescout.com/local-news/voters-toss-incumbent-cherokee-county-commissioners)\n[2] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n[3] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_district_i","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education District Ii"},{"contest":"county_school_board_district_i","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education District Ii"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Jason","fullname":"Jason Ryan Murphy","lastname":"Murphy","middlename":"Ryan","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_district_i","contest_title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education District Ii","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"cherokee","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},{"contest":"county_school_board_district_i","contest_title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education District Ii","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"cherokee","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"cherokee","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_school_board_district_i","contest_title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education District Ii","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"cherokee","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Per the NC voter file: REP voter in Cherokee County since 2006.","terms":[],"token":"6f7fa23a0f85a94d"}