{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nSamuel \"Sam\" Fredrick May ran in the March 3, 2026 Republican primary for Cherokee County Sheriff, finishing behind winner Chris Wood, who took 80.55% of the vote. Withdrawn candidate Dustin Smith, the former incumbent sheriff who had resigned in February, still appeared on the ballot and received 8.31%, leaving May with roughly 11% of the vote [1]. May will not appear on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot.\n\n## Background\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, May is a registered voter in Cherokee County, North Carolina, registered since 2023 (3 years), with party affiliation listed as Republican [2].\n\nThe voter file shows May's year of birth as 1972; NC publishes only the year of birth in its bulk voter export, so day and month are not part of the public record [2].\n\nThe voter history file shows 3 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the 2026-03-03 primary election [3].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Voters toss incumbents in Cherokee County elections \u2013 Cherokee Scout](https://www.cherokeescout.com/local-news/voters-toss-incumbent-cherokee-county-commissioners)\n[2] [North Carolina State Board of Elections \u2014 Voter Search](https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n[3] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Cherokee County Sheriff"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Samuel","fullname":"Samuel Fredrick May","lastname":"May","middlename":"Fredrick","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Cherokee County Sheriff","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"cherokee","office_key":"county_sheriff","office_title":"Sheriff","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"cherokee","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_sheriff","contest_title":"Cherokee County Sheriff","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"cherokee","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 Cherokee County since 2023.","terms":[],"token":"aea65c14a0d9e592"}