{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nTom Bailey is the Libertarian Party nominee for the U.S. House in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District in the November 3, 2026 general election. The Libertarian primary scheduled for March 3, 2026 was canceled, and Bailey advances directly to the ballot alongside Democratic incumbent Don Davis and Republican Laurie Buckhout [1].\n\n## Background\n\nBailey served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971. He earned his high school diploma from South Bakersfield High School and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 1993 [1]. His career experience includes work as a contractor; he is now retired [1].\n\n## Career\n\nBailey has been active for years in North Carolina Libertarian Party politics. Per his own 2026 Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey response, he has served as a member of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina's Executive Committee and as chairman of its Legal Action Committee, in which capacity he says he helped lead the federal ballot-access lawsuit McLoughlin v. Marsh [1].\n\n## Office history\n\nIn the 2024 general election for the same seat, Bailey received 2.6% of the vote (9,949 votes), behind Democratic winner Don Davis and Republican Laurie Buckhout [1]. As of an April 25, 2026 filing, he reported no campaign contributions or expenditures and a cash-on-hand balance of $0 [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Tom Bailey (North Carolina) - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Tom_Bailey_(North_Carolina)), accessed 2026-07-20","campaigns":[{"contest":"us_house_001","county":"beaufort","county_count":25,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"nc","title":"Us House Of Representatives District 01"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Thomas","fullname":"Thomas Aaron Bailey","lastname":"Bailey","middlename":"Aaron","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"us_house_001","contest_title":"Us House Of Representatives District 01","county":"beaufort","county_count":25,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"us_house","office_title":"U.S. Representative","party":"LIB","pgr":"general","state":"nc"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"us_house_001","contest_title":"Us House Of Representatives District 01","county":"beaufort","county_count":25,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"us_house","office_title":"U.S. Representative","party":"LIB","pgr":"general","state":"nc"},"party":"LIB","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"us_house","office_title":"U.S. Representative","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Tom Bailey is the Libertarian candidate for U.S. House NC\u20111 in the 2026 election, a retired contractor and former Guilford County Libertarian Party chair.","terms":[],"token":"75654a5eaef92564"}