{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nRobert Atkinson is an independent candidate for Hickman County Mayor in the August 6, 2026 county general election [1]. He is one of four candidates on the mayoral ballot [1]. Atkinson chose to skip the party primary and file directly as an independent for the general election [2].\n\n## Office history\nAtkinson previously served as Hickman County's building commissioner (building inspector). He was succeeded in that role by Austin Brown, who was hired effective July 1, 2025 [3].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Candidates finalized for Hickman County's May 5 Primary ballot - Main Street Media of Tennessee](https://mainstreetmediatn.com/articles/hct-print/candidates-qualified-finalized-for-may-elections/) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [2026 election field filling up in Hickman County - Main Street Media of Tennessee](https://mainstreetmediatn.com/articles/hct-print/qualls-v-bates-for-mayor-as-names-begin-to-drop-for-2026-election-qualifying/) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[3] [Austin Brown new building inspector - Main Street Media of Tennessee](https://mainstreetmediatn.com/articles/hct-print/austin-brown-new-building-inspector/) - accessed 2026-07-23","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_mayor","county":"Hickman","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"TN","title":"County Mayor"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Robert","fullname":"Robert Atkinson","lastname":"Atkinson","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_mayor","contest_title":"County Mayor","county":"Hickman","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"county_mayor","office_title":null,"party":"I","pgr":"general","state":"TN"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_mayor","contest_title":"County Mayor","county":"Hickman","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"county_mayor","office_title":null,"party":"I","pgr":"general","state":"TN"},"party":"I","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_mayor","office_title":"County Mayor","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"summary":"Independent candidate for Hickman County Mayor in 2026; former county building commissioner (building inspector), a role he held until mid-2025.","terms":[],"token":"HmvXIyNiyw"}