{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nCindy Rutledge is the Republican nominee for Hawkins County Clerk on the August 6, 2026 ballot, running unopposed in the general election [1][2]. She is seeking to succeed Nancy A. Davis, who has served as county clerk since 2014 and did not file for re-election [3][4].\n\n## Career\nRutledge currently serves as deputy county clerk in the Hawkins County Clerk's office [3].\n\n## Office history\nRutledge won the May 5, 2026 Republican primary for county clerk with 5,848 votes to Austin Ray Bradley's 1,649 [1][5]. With no Democratic or independent candidate filed, she is expected to be certified as clerk after the August 6 general election [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [No excuses: Stewart wins primary, Linkous unseats DeWitte (Rogersville Review)](https://www.therogersvillereview.com/news/article_f3f7b9f3-e7c6-4839-9584-7f87024cae4a.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[2] [Official ballot, Hawkins County, August 6, 2026](https://hawkinscountytn.gov/pdfs/elections/sample_ballot.pdf) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[3] [Hawkins voters have plenty of options (Rogersville Review)](https://www.therogersvillereview.com/news/article_a72b5833-32a6-408c-84a9-21f45511c5f5.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[4] [County Clerks Locations (Tennessee Department of Revenue)](https://www.tn.gov/revenue/title-and-registration/county-clerks-locations.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[5] [Cindy Rutledge, Austin Ray Bradley run for Hawkins County clerk (Kingsport Times News)](https://timesnews.net/news/364051/cindy-rutledge-austin-ray-bradley-run-for-hawkins-county-clerk/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_clerk","county":"Hawkins","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"TN","title":"County Clerk"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"CINDY","fullname":"CINDY RUTLEDGE","lastname":"RUTLEDGE","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_clerk","contest_title":"County Clerk","county":"Hawkins","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"county_clerk","office_title":null,"party":"R","pgr":"general","state":"TN"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_clerk","contest_title":"County Clerk","county":"Hawkins","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"county_clerk","office_title":null,"party":"R","pgr":"general","state":"TN"},"party":"R","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_clerk","office_title":"County Clerk","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"summary":"Longtime deputy county clerk who won a contested GOP primary to succeed retiring Clerk Nancy Davis and now runs unopposed for County Clerk on the August 2026 ballot.","terms":[],"token":"PnO2rVA9MO"}