{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nCarla Jean Stotts, also known as Carla Stotts Hills, was a Democratic candidate for Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk in the May 5, 2026 primary, running in a five-candidate field alongside Rheunte Benson, Lawrence Denton Jr., Wanda Halbert, and Joe Towns Jr. [1]. Towns won the Democratic nomination, edging out Halbert by 121 votes (27.53% to 27.36%) [2]; Stotts did not win the nomination [1][2].\n\n## Office history\nStotts previously ran for Criminal Court Clerk in the 2022 Democratic primary, finishing third with 29.8% of the vote (13,349 votes); incumbent Heidi Kuhn won with 44.8%, and Maerne Briggs Bernard finished second with 25.2% [3].\n\n## Sources\n[1] Shelby County Election Commission, Candidate List for the May 5, 2026 Election, and [Recap of Shelby County Primary Election](https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/recap-of-shelby-county-primary-election-and-whats-next-for-the-candidates/article_1f13e239-0c8f-48a5-8a7d-4dc673f95e98.html) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[2] [Joe Towns Jr. edges out Wanda Halbert for Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk](https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/joe-towns-jr-edges-out-wanda-halbert-for-shelby-county-criminal-court-clerk/article_974e4e05-1837-4ff0-8077-39d4c22ad24b.html) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[3] [Carla Jean Stotts - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Carla_Jean_Stotts) - accessed 2026-07-06","campaigns":[{"contest":"criminal_court_clerk","county":"shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"primary","state":"TN","title":"Criminal Court Clerk"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Carla","fullname":"Carla Stotts","lastname":"Stotts","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"criminal_court_clerk","contest_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","county":"shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-05-05","office_county":"shelby","office_key":"criminal_court_clerk","office_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","party":"D","pgr":"primary","state":"TN"}],"county":"shelby","cycles":[{"general":null,"party":"D","primary":{"contest":"criminal_court_clerk","contest_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","county":"shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-05-05","office_county":"shelby","office_key":"criminal_court_clerk","office_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","party":"D","pgr":"primary","state":"TN"},"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"criminal_court_clerk","office_title":"Criminal Court Clerk","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"summary":"Memphis Democrat; ran for Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk in the May 2026 primary (did not win) and previously in 2022 (third place).","terms":[],"token":"ehg1mf5epy"}