{"biography":"**Update: Paul James Dunn lost the Republican primary for Rutherford County Sheriff on March 3, 2026, and will not appear on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot.[3]**\n\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, Paul James Dunn is a registered voter in Rutherford County, North Carolina, registered since 1996 (30 years), with party affiliation listed as Republican [1].\n\nThe voter file shows Paul James Dunn's year of birth as 1973; NC publishes only the year of birth in its bulk voter export, so day and month are not part of the public record [1].\n\nThe voter history file shows 10 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the 2026-03-03 primary election [2].\n\nThis summary draws only from the public North Carolina voter registration and history records. No additional published biographical information was located. Voters with personal knowledge of Paul James Dunn can reach ballotproject.org with corrections or additions.\n\n## Sources\n[1] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n\n[2] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)\n\n[3] Rutherford County Board of Elections, 2026 general election candidate roster (https://www.rutherfordcountync.gov/document_center/Board%20of%20Elections/cont_cand_rpt_3.pdf, filing closed 2026-07-17) \u2014 Paul James Dunn does not appear among the November 3, 2026 candidates for Rutherford County Sheriff; Aaron Ellenburg is the republican nominee who advanced instead.","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","county":"rutherford","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Rutherford County Sheriff"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Paul","fullname":"Paul James Dunn","lastname":"Dunn","middlename":"James","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Rutherford County Sheriff","county":"rutherford","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"rutherford","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"rutherford","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Rutherford County Sheriff","county":"rutherford","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"rutherford","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Per the NC voter file: REP voter in Rutherford County since 1996.","terms":[],"token":"aaadf8c8d4ff8ca2"}