{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJohn Hughes Bender III, known as Jack Bender, is an unaffiliated candidate for the Jones County Board of Commissioners, District 3, in the November 3, 2026 general election. A WCTI12 report published in late February 2026 (updated March 6, 2026) described him as running unopposed [1]. However, the North Carolina State Board of Elections' 2026 candidate filing list shows two more unaffiliated candidates, Fernanda Gayle Copeland and Richard Gene Avery Jr., later filed for the same District 3 seat -- both on April 15, 2026, after that report was published -- making this a three-candidate race [2].\n\n## Career\nBender is identified on LinkedIn as the Economic Development and Planning Director for Jones County, North Carolina [3] (LinkedIn requires login; reflects the public profile as of July 2026).\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Meet your Jones County Candidates for the 2026 Election \u2014 WCTI12](https://wcti12.com/news/election/local-election/meet-your-jones-county-candidates-for-the-2026-election)\n[2] NC State Board of Elections, 2026 Candidate Filing List (Jones County) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-21\n[3] [John Bender \u2013 Economic Developer/Planner \u2013 Jones County \u2013 LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-bender-5039a090/) (LinkedIn requires login; reflects the public profile as of July 2026)","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_commission_district_03","county":"jones","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Jones County Board Of Commissioners District 03"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"John","fullname":"John Hughes Bender III","lastname":"Bender","middlename":"Hughes","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_commission_district_03","contest_title":"Jones County Board Of Commissioners District 03","county":"jones","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"jones","office_key":"county_commission","office_title":"County Commissioner","party":"UNA","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"jones","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_commission_district_03","contest_title":"Jones County Board Of Commissioners District 03","county":"jones","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"jones","office_key":"county_commission","office_title":"County Commissioner","party":"UNA","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"UNA","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_commission","office_title":"County Commissioner","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"suffix":"III","summary":"John Bender is a Republican politician and Economic Developer in Jones County, NC, who served on the County Commission.","terms":[],"token":"aa12b692b2d563f8"}