{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nKatherine Bike is the Democratic incumbent for Knox County Board of Education District 4, representing West Knoxville, and is running for re-election in the August 6, 2026 general election against Republican Ashley Sartelle after being unopposed in the Democratic primary [1][2]. Her priorities are early-literacy funding for K-2 using evidence-based approaches, tracking and publicly reporting K-5 literacy data beyond the state's mandated third-grade retention numbers, equitable funding across urban, suburban and rural communities, and data-driven decisions rather than political pressure [1].\n\n## Background and education\nBike, 43, works at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and serves as a community health council member [1].\n\n## Office history\nBike was elected to the District 4 seat in 2022 [2]. On book policy she now believes \"the final decision should be with the board so that it can be an open and documented meeting,\" and prefers the term \"book removal\" over \"book bans\" to keep discussions productive [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Knox County Board of Education District 4 voter's guide (Knox News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/knox-county-board-education-district-073835341.html) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Knox County Board of Education member Katherine Bike to run for re-election (WBIR)](https://www.wbir.com/article/news/politics/knox-county-board-of-education-member-katherine-bike-run-for-re-election/51-378c9f8a-af3f-4b54-a463-62975eb80567) - accessed 2026-07-23","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_district_4","county":"Knox","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"TN","title":"Board Of Education District 4"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Katherine","fullname":"Katherine Bike","lastname":"Bike","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_school_board_district_4","contest_title":"Board Of Education District 4","county":"Knox","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":"knox","office_key":"county_school_board_district_4","office_title":"Knox County Schools Board District 4","party":"D","pgr":"general","state":"TN"}],"county":"knox","cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_school_board_district_4","contest_title":"Board Of Education District 4","county":"Knox","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":"knox","office_key":"county_school_board_district_4","office_title":"Knox County Schools Board District 4","party":"D","pgr":"general","state":"TN"},"party":"D","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026},{"general":null,"party":null,"primary":null,"term":{"county":"knox","electiondate":"2022-08-04","office_county":"knox","office_key":"county_school_board_district_4","office_title":"Knox County Schools Board District 4","party":null,"state":"TN","term_end":"2026-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01"},"year":2022}],"office_key":"county_school_board_district_4","office_title":"Knox County Schools Board District 4","state":"TN","terms":[{"county":"knox","electiondate":"2022-08-04","office_county":"knox","office_key":"county_school_board_district_4","office_title":"Knox County Schools Board District 4","party":null,"state":"TN","term_end":"2026-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01"}]}],"summary":"Democratic incumbent for Knox County school board District 4; a UT employee first elected in 2022 focused on early-literacy funding and funding equity.","terms":[{"county":"knox","electiondate":"2022-08-04","office":"county_school_board_district_4","state":"TN","term_end":"2026-09-01","term_start":"2022-09-01","title":"Knox County Schools Board District 4"}],"token":"sljD1Q6ZqL"}