{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nAshley Cavender is running as a Democrat for Washington County Commission District 3 in the August 6, 2026 general election, facing Republican nominee Jerome K. Fitzgerald [1]. Her campaign platform emphasizes \"smart land use, healthy waterways, local food, and civic engagement,\" and her campaign site states she is running because \"we deserve someone who will protect our land and put the citizens first\" [2].\n\n## Background and education\nCavender is a native of East Tennessee. She graduated from East Tennessee State University in 2015 and began her career with Jonesborough Locally Grown at Boone Street Market, according to her campaign biography [2].\n\n## Career\nPer her campaign site, Cavender currently serves as Director of Equitable Nutrition & Food Access with the Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council, focused on \"conservation, local agriculture, and community-based initiatives\" [2]. She has held roles as event coordinator at Visit Johnson City, director of the Meet the Mountains Festival, and volunteer and development coordinator for One Acre Cafe, and she serves on the Slow Food Tri-Cities team as Equitable Nutrition & Food Access Director, where she says she is \"elated ... to work on meaningful initiatives that focus on local food and dignified access\" [2][3]. She chairs Keep Jonesborough Beautiful, has contributed to the Johnson City Horizon 2045 long-range planning process, and has supported affordable-housing efforts with Unity Housing, per her campaign biography [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [LIST: Candidates file petitions to run for office in Washington County, TN](https://www.wjhl.com/news/your-local-election-hq/list-candidates-file-petitions-to-run-for-office-in-washington-county-tn/) - WJHL, accessed 2026-07-06\n[2] [About Ashley](https://ashleycforcounty.com/about/) - Ashley Cavender campaign site, accessed 2026-07-06\n[3] [Meet the Team](https://slowfoodtricities.org/slow-food-tri-cities-meet-the-team) - Slow Food Tri-Cities, accessed 2026-07-06","campaigns":[{"contest":"county_commission_district_3","county":"Washington","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"general","state":"TN","title":"County Commissioner District 3"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"ASHLEY","fullname":"ASHLEY CAVENDER","lastname":"CAVENDER","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"county_commission_district_3","contest_title":"County Commissioner District 3","county":"Washington","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"county_commission_district_3","office_title":null,"party":"D","pgr":"general","state":"TN"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":{"contest":"county_commission_district_3","contest_title":"County Commissioner District 3","county":"Washington","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2026-08-06","office_county":null,"office_key":"county_commission_district_3","office_title":null,"party":"D","pgr":"general","state":"TN"},"party":"D","primary":null,"term":null,"year":2026}],"office_key":"county_commission_district_3","office_title":"County Commissioner District 3","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"summary":"Washington County Commission District 3 Democratic nominee; East Tennessee food-systems nonprofit director running on a land-use and local-food platform, per her campaign site.","terms":[],"token":"v4aclnRjHV"}