{"biography":"Howard Lassiter Penny Jr. is the incumbent Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for District\u202f53 and is on the ballot for re\u2011election in the November\u202f3,\u202f2026 general election [1][2].  The North Carolina Constitution requires that a House member be a qualified voter, have resided in the district for at least one year before election, and be at least 21 years old; legislators serve two\u2011year terms with no term limits [2].\n\nBorn August\u202f5,\u202f1947, Penny is a retired agribusiness professional who has spent his career in farming, sales, and manufacturing, now operating a fourth\u2011generation family farm [9][11].  He has been active in local civic life, serving on the Harnett County Board of Education (2014\u20112016) and the Harnett County Board of Commissioners (2016\u20112020), where he held vice\u2011chair and chair positions and participated on planning, tax, and adjustment boards [1][9].\n\nPenny entered the state legislature after the Harnett County GOP Executive Committee selected him to replace retiring Rep.\u202fDavid Lewis on the November\u202f2020 ballot and to fill the resulting vacancy; he was sworn in on September\u202f17,\u202f2020 [1][9].  He has been re\u2011elected in 2022 and 2024 and is seeking a fourth term in 2026.  In the 2025\u20112026 session he serves as Deputy Majority Whip and chairs the Local Government Committee, while also holding seats on Agriculture, Appropriations, Education\u2011Community Colleges, Environment, and Local Government committees [7][1][11].\n\nDuring the 2021\u20112022 session Penny was Vice Chair of the State Personnel Committee and served on Agriculture, Wildlife Resources, Appropriations, and Appropriations\u2011General Government committees [1][9].  He has sponsored a range of legislation, including bills on driver\u2011license designations for autism (HB\u202f21), restoring down\u2011zoning authority (HB\u202f24), the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act (HB\u202f38), and the Protect Those Who Serve & Protect Act (HB\u202f52) [8][15].  His legislative focus reflects his background in agriculture and public safety, and he has been appointed chair of the Agriculture and Environment Committee by the House Speaker [11][18].\n\nPenny\u2019s public service is framed by his statement that he works \u201cmuch of his life in the Agriculture Industry\u2026 and has served thirty years on County Planning Boards, Tax Board of Equalization, Board of Education, and as County Commissioner,\u201d giving him a perspective on how government serves taxpayers and businesses [11].  He resides in Harnett County and maintains a family farm, continuing to identify as a businessman\u2011turned\u2011legislator.\n\nIn the 2026 race, Penny faces Democratic challenger Kevin\u202fG.\u202fThurman and Libertarian Christopher\u202fSessions; the Republican primary was canceled, allowing him to advance automatically to the general ballot [1].\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Howard Penny Jr. - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Howard_Penny_Jr.)\n- [2] [North Carolina House of Representatives District 53 - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/North_Carolina_House_of_Representatives_District_53)\n- [7] [Representative Howard Penny, Jr. - Biography - North Carolina General Assembly](https://www.ncleg.gov/Members/Biography/H/768)\n- [8] [Representative Howard Penny, Jr.'s Introduced Bills - North Carolina General Assembly](https://www.ncleg.gov/Members/IntroducedBills/H/768)\n- [9] [Howard Penny Jr. - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Penny_Jr.)\n- [11] [Penny for NC House](https://pennyfornchouse.com/)\n- [15] [State Representative Howard Penny | BillTrack50](https://www.billtrack50.com/legislatordetail/24829)\n- [16] [North Carolina State Rep. Howard Penny - Biography | LegiStorm](https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/384621/Howard_Penny_Jr_.html)\n- [18] [Howard Penny - North Carolina House Republican Caucus](https://www.nchouserepublicans.com/members/howard-penny)\n- [19] [North Carolina Representative Howard Penny, Jr. - FastDemocracy](https://fastdemocracy.com/bill-search/nc/legislators/NCL000314/)\n- [20] [Rep. Howard Penny, Jr. | North Carolina 2021-2022 | TrackBill](https://trackbill.com/legislator/north-carolina-representative-howard-penny-jr/791-21202/)","campaigns":[{"contest":"state_house_053","county":"harnett","county_count":2,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Nc House Of Representatives District 053"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Howard","fullname":"Howard Lassister Penny JR","lastname":"Penny","middlename":"Lassister","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"state_house_053","contest_title":"Nc House Of Representatives District 053","county":"harnett","county_count":2,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"state_house","office_title":"State Representative","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"state_house_053","contest_title":"Nc House Of Representatives District 053","county":"harnett","county_count":2,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"state_house","office_title":"State Representative","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"state_house","office_title":"State Representative","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"suffix":"JR","summary":"Howard Penny Jr. is the Republican incumbent for North Carolina House District\u202f53, seeking re\u2011election in 2026 after a career in agribusiness and local government.","terms":[],"token":"a7bc4376f2f1df2c"}