{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nHeather Renee Walker ran as a Republican candidate for the Conover district seat on the Newton-Conover City Schools Board of Education, one of three candidates for the single seat in the March 3, 2026 primary [1]. Incumbent Robbie Gonzalez won the seat outright in that primary [1].\n\n## Career\n\nA Hickory Daily Record candidate survey lists Walker's occupation as Radiologic Technologist [1]. Asked about a possible merger of the Hickory City, Newton-Conover, and Catawba County school systems, Walker said years of \"financial decisions that weren't sustainable\" have made the merger question unavoidable, and that the conversation should focus on \"how we could merge and do it well\" rather than whether to merge at all [1].\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Newton-Conover school board candidates weigh in on merging school systems \u2013 Hickory Record](https://hickoryrecord.com/news/local/government-politics/elections/article_eae2c1f7-4ade-40ea-b386-7a637f015abb.html)","campaigns":[{"contest":"newton_conover_school_conover_district","county":"catawba","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"NC","title":"Newton-Conover Schools Board Of Education Conover District"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Heather","fullname":"Heather Renee Walker","lastname":"Walker","middlename":"Renee","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"newton_conover_school_conover_district","contest_title":"Newton-Conover Schools Board Of Education Conover District","county":"catawba","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"catawba","office_key":"school_board","office_title":"School Board Member","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"}],"county":"catawba","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"newton_conover_school_conover_district","contest_title":"Newton-Conover Schools Board Of Education Conover District","county":"catawba","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-03-03","office_county":"catawba","office_key":"school_board","office_title":"School Board Member","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"NC"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"school_board","office_title":"School Board Member","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"terms":[],"token":"f49013788af20689"}