Jessica Rebecca Myers Thomas

Jessica Rebecca Myers Thomas is a candidate for the Duplin County Board of Commissioners, seeking the District 02 seat as an unaffiliated (UNA) contender in the November 3, 2026 election. The Board of Commissioners serves as the chief governing body for Duplin County, responsible for setting policy, adopting the county budget, overseeing land‑use decisions, and managing essential services such as public safety, health, and infrastructure. Commissioners work with the county manager and other elected officials to address the needs of residents across urban and rural areas of the county.

Thomas lives in Kenansville, the county seat of Duplin, and is a mother of three boys. She has spoken publicly about her personal experiences with perinatal mental‑health challenges, including postpartum obsessive‑compulsive disorder and post‑traumatic stress disorder following the birth of her third child. In a 2025 interview, Thomas described the survival mindset she adopted during those periods and highlighted the scarcity of mental‑health resources for mothers in rural North Carolina, noting that even counties not classified as maternity‑care deserts, like Duplin, still face gaps in education and provider availability [11].

While the public record does not detail Thomas’s formal education or prior professional career, her advocacy on perinatal mental‑health issues aligns with the work of organizations such as Mind the Gap North Carolina and March for Dimes, which are pushing for increased funding, provider training, and expanded Medicaid coverage in the state. By sharing her story, Thomas aims to bring attention to the broader issue of maternal mental health, emphasizing that “moms exist on all party lines” and that improving care is a community‑wide concern [11].

Thomas’s campaign positions her as a community‑focused candidate who seeks to address health‑care access, especially mental‑health services, for families in Duplin County. Her platform is expected to prioritize expanding local health resources, supporting rural providers, and ensuring that county policies reflect the needs of mothers and families across the district. Though specific policy proposals have not been detailed in the available sources, her public statements suggest a commitment to bridging the gap between rural health infrastructure and the mental‑health needs of residents.

If elected, Thomas would join the six‑member board to help shape budgetary decisions, land‑use planning, and service delivery for Duplin County, bringing a personal perspective on health‑care challenges to the governing body.

Sources

• [11] Experts say more than 15,000 women will experience a perinatal mental health condition in N.C. each year