{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJames Haywood Thornton, known as Jimmy Thornton, is the incumbent Sampson County Sheriff seeking his seventh term. He won the March 3, 2026 Republican primary, defeating challenger Tracy Jackson 4,529 votes (69 percent) to 2,009 votes (30 percent) with all 23 precincts reporting, and faces Democratic challenger Donald Edwards in the November 3, 2026 general election [3]. He has served as Sampson County's chief law enforcement officer since 2002 [1].\n\n## Background and education\nThornton is a 1969 graduate of Hobbton High School in Sampson County. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Social Work from East Carolina University in 1974 and a Master of Business Administration from North Carolina State University in the 1980s [1].\n\n## Career\nBefore becoming sheriff, Thornton worked as a District Manager for the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction's Probation and Parole section for 28 years. He was first elected Sampson County Sheriff in 2002 and has been re-elected continuously since, most recently earning a fifth term in 2018 [1].\n\n## Family\nThornton had been married to his wife Betsy for more than 45 years as of 2018. They have two sons, Brian and Greg, and three grandchildren [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Thornton earns fifth term as county sheriff \u2013 Sampson Independent](https://www.clintonnc.com/news/local/34737/thornton-earns-fifth-term-as-county-sheriff) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-19\n[2] [Sheriff Jimmy Thornton \u2013 North Carolina Sheriffs' Association](https://ncsheriffs.org/people/jimmy-thornton) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-19\n[3] [Grady makes clerk history \u2013 Sampson Independent](https://www.clintonnc.com/news/breaking-news/112367/grady-makes-clerk-history) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-19","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","county":"sampson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Sampson County Sheriff"},{"contest":"county_sheriff","county":"sampson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Sampson County Sheriff"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"James","fullname":"James Haywood Thornton","lastname":"Thornton","middlename":"Haywood","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Sampson County Sheriff","county":"sampson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"sampson","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Sampson County Sheriff","county":"sampson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"sampson","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"sampson","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Sampson County Sheriff","county":"sampson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"sampson","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"James Haywood Thornton is listed as a candidate for County Sheriff in North Carolina via the NCSBE website.","terms":[],"token":"7ac41d765b05f029"}