{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJoy L Stein is the Democratic candidate for one of two seats on the Cherokee County Board of Education, District 3 (Hiwassee Dam), unopposed in her own primary. She faces Republican incumbents Jason Murphy and Shannon Raper and unaffiliated candidate Carmen Owens Garland on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot for the two available seats [1].\n\n## Background\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, Stein is a registered voter in Cherokee County, North Carolina, registered since 1997 (29 years), with party affiliation listed as Democratic [2].\n\nThe voter file shows Stein's year of birth as 1961; 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 8 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the 2024-11-05 general 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_school_board_district_i","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education District Ii"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Joy","fullname":"Joy L Stein","lastname":"Stein","middlename":"L","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_district_i","contest_title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education District Ii","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"cherokee","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"cherokee","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_school_board_district_i","contest_title":"Cherokee County Board Of Education District Ii","county":"cherokee","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":"cherokee","office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","party":"DEM","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"DEM","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_school_board","office_title":"County School Board Member","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Per the NC voter file: DEM voter in Cherokee County since 1997.","terms":[],"token":"f187a82b9a13359d"}