{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nSarah Suzanne Stevens is a Republican candidate for North Carolina Supreme Court, Seat 1, on the November 3, 2026 general-election ballot [1]. She resigned her seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives on June 16, 2026, to focus on her Supreme Court campaign [1].\n\n## Background and education\nStevens was born February 15, 1960, in Mount Airy, North Carolina [1]. She holds a B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a J.D. from Campbell University [1].\n\n## Career\nStevens is a North Carolina lawyer [1]. She represented the 90th House district, covering Surry and Wilkes counties, in the North Carolina House of Representatives from January 1, 2009, until her resignation in June 2026, and served as Speaker pro tempore of the House from January 2017 to January 2025 [1]. Over her legislative tenure she chaired the House Judiciary committee in multiple sessions (Judiciary III in 2015-2016, Judiciary in 2019-2020, and Judiciary II in 2021-2022 and 2023-2024) and also served on the Appropriations, Rules Calendar and Operations, Redistricting, and Regulatory Reform committees, among others [1]. In 2015 she received the Champion for Children Award from Children's Hope Alliance and Benchmarks for her work on foster-care issues [1].\n\n## Office history\nStevens was first elected to the North Carolina House in 2008, defeating incumbent Democrat Jim Harrell with 50.58% of the vote, and was re-elected in every subsequent cycle through 2024, most recently defeating Ken Badgett 77.90% to 22.10% [1]. She was elected Speaker pro tempore in 2017, succeeding Paul Stam, and held that post until January 2025, when she was succeeded by Mitchell Setzer [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Sarah Stevens (politician) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Stevens_(politician)), accessed 2026-07-20","campaigns":[{"contest":"supreme_court_seat_01","county":"alamance","county_count":100,"electiondate":"Tue, 03 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"nc","title":"Nc Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 01"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Sarah","fullname":"Sarah Suzanne Stevens","lastname":"Stevens","middlename":"Suzanne","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"supreme_court_seat_01","contest_title":"Nc Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 01","county":"alamance","county_count":100,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"supreme_court","office_title":"Supreme Court Justice","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"nc"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"supreme_court_seat_01","contest_title":"Nc Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 01","county":"alamance","county_count":100,"electiondate":"2026-11-03","office_county":null,"office_key":"supreme_court","office_title":"Supreme Court Justice","party":"REP","pgr":"general","state":"nc"},"party":"REP","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"supreme_court","office_title":"Supreme Court Justice","state":"NC","terms":[]}],"summary":"Per the NC voter file: REP voter in Surry County since 1986.","terms":[],"token":"faf954f661c3beb5"}