{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nBen Shepard is an independent candidate for Dickson County Mayor on the August 6, 2026 county-general ballot [1]. He entered the race late, announcing his candidacy over a weekend just days before the February filing deadline [2].\n\nAt the Dickson County Chamber of Commerce mayoral forum, Shepard, whom the coverage described as a native engineer from a family of public servants, said his priorities are safety, schools, and supporting local farmers, and he stressed communicating with residents about county challenges and maintaining agricultural areas amid growth [1].\n\n## Career\n\nShepard is an engineer and a Dickson County native from a family of public servants [1].\n\n## Office history\n\nShepard is running as an independent through GoodParty.org, where his pledge includes running outside the two-party system, accepting majority funding from grassroots donors, maintaining transparency about his agenda, and running a civil campaign [3].\n\n## Further candidate material (not accessible for this profile)\n\n- [Ben Shepard for Dickson County Mayor - Facebook (@shep4dickson)](https://www.facebook.com/shep4dickson/) (campaign social page; may require login)\n\n## Sources\n\n[1] [Dickson County Chamber of Commerce holds county mayoral candidate forum - Main Street Media of Tennessee](https://mainstreetmediatn.com/articles/dicksonpost/dickson-county-chamber-of-commerce-holds-county-mayoral-candidate-forum/) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Six Candidates Enter Dickson County Mayor's Race as Filing Deadline Nears - Dickson Times](https://www.dicksontimes.com/the-news/six-candidates-enter-dickson-county-mayors-race-as-filing-deadline-nears) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[3] [Ben Shepard for Dickson County Mayor - Good Party](https://goodparty.org/candidate/ben-shepard/dickson-county-mayor) - accessed 2026-07-23","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_mayor","county":"Dickson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"TN","title":"County Mayor"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Ben","fullname":"Ben Shepard","lastname":"Shepard","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_mayor","contest_title":"County Mayor","county":"Dickson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"county_mayor","office_title":null,"party":"I","pgr":"general","state":"TN"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_mayor","contest_title":"County Mayor","county":"Dickson","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"county_mayor","office_title":null,"party":"I","pgr":"general","state":"TN"},"party":"I","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_mayor","office_title":"County Mayor","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"summary":"Independent candidate for Dickson County Mayor; a Dickson County native and engineer running on safety, schools and support for local farmers.","terms":[],"token":"feqGZcJI2Z"}