{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nRuth McCune Hartness is the incumbent Vance County Board of Education member for District 7. She filed in December 2025 to retain her seat as a Democrat [1], but lost the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary to challenger Angela Cooper Lyons. Only Lyons and Republican Hailey Breeze Macklin appear on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot for the seat, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections' 2026 candidate filing list [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Candidate Filings For March 2026 Primary - WIZS](https://wizs.com/candidate-filings-for-march-2026-primary/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-21\n[2] NC State Board of Elections, 2026 Candidate Filing List (Vance County) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-21","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_district_07","county":"vance","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Vance County Board Of Education District 07"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Ruth","fullname":"Ruth Mccune Hartness","lastname":"Hartness","middlename":"Mccune","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_district_07","contest_title":"Vance County Board Of Education District 07","county":"vance","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"vance","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"vance","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_school_board_district_07","contest_title":"Vance County Board Of Education District 07","county":"vance","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"vance","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"DEM","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: DEM voter in Vance County since 1964.","terms":[],"token":"8ca6c748b70e5d79"}