{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Mary Grace Newman","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"I","person":{"biography":null,"firstname":"Mary","lastname":"Newman","middlename":"Grace","suffix":null,"token":"JMXHaAFvwg"},"token":"mary_grace_newman"},{"candidatename":"John Raby Creson","chatgptsummary":"John Raby Creson's biography shows he was appointed to the Lincoln County Commission to fill a vacant District 2 seat following a vote by the existing commission. This record demonstrates direct experience with county legislative processes and intergovernmental selection procedures. The biography contains no mention of disciplinary records or controversies. Bio does not indicate prior budget literacy, constituent case-work experience, or completion of state-required continuing education.","notes":null,"party":"I","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJohn Raby Creson is an independent candidate for the Lincoln County Commission, District 2, on the August 6, 2026 county general ballot. District 2 is a single \"vote for three\" contest [1][2].\n\n## Office history\nCreson was appointed to the Lincoln County Commission to fill a vacant District 2 seat created by the resignation of commissioner Ben Brown, selected by a vote of the county commission [3].\n\n## Further candidate material (not accessible for this profile)\n- [John Raby Creson fills vacant seat as District 2 Commissioner - Elk Valley Times](https://www.elkvalleytimes.com/news/john-raby-creson-fills-vacant-seat-as-district-2-commissioner/article_4a352375-4fba-4116-9d8f-91fef3e76f0e.html) (full article not directly retrievable; appointment details above drawn from the indexed article text)\n\n## Sources\n[1] [List of Candidates, August 6, 2026 (Lincoln County Election Commission)](https://cms2.revize.com/revize/lincolncountynew/Documents/Election%20Commission/2026%20Election/LIST%20OF%20CANDIDATES%205-18-2026.pdf) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [General Sample Ballot, August 6, 2026 (Lincoln County Election Commission)](https://cms2.revize.com/revize/lincolncountynew/Documents/Election%20Commission/2026%20Election/GENERAL%20SAMPLE%20BALLOT.pdf) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[3] [John Raby Creson fills vacant seat as District 2 Commissioner - Elk Valley Times](https://www.elkvalleytimes.com/news/john-raby-creson-fills-vacant-seat-as-district-2-commissioner/article_4a352375-4fba-4116-9d8f-91fef3e76f0e.html) - accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"John","lastname":"Creson","middlename":"Raby","suffix":null,"token":"u3voQgtQdC"},"token":"john_raby_creson"},{"candidatename":"Machale Mitchell","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"I","person":{"biography":null,"firstname":"Machale","lastname":"Mitchell","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"Scd6DdnIKE"},"token":"machale_mitchell"},{"candidatename":"James Larry Shelton","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":null,"firstname":"James","lastname":"Shelton","middlename":"Larry","suffix":null,"token":"IDUra3SjSO"},"token":"james_larry_shelton"},{"candidatename":"Terri Rogers","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"I","person":{"biography":null,"firstname":"Terri","lastname":"Rogers","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"T5SSRV0Ic1"},"token":"terri_rogers"},{"candidatename":"Dustin Adkinson","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"I","person":{"biography":null,"firstname":"Dustin","lastname":"Adkinson","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"tUzFM1XBAM"},"token":"dustin_adkinson"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"county_commissioner","o.office":null,"office":"county_commission_district_2","officedescription":"A county commissioner is a member of the county's legislative body. The commission approves the county budget, sets the property-tax rate, authorizes borrowing, and passes county resolutions and ordinances. Commissioners are elected from districts (or at-large seats) to represent constituents on countywide policy.","officequalities":"- Policy judgment on countywide matters \u2014 budget, taxes, land use, services, and intergovernmental issues \u2014 within Tennessee county-government law.\n- Budget literacy: the commission approves the county budget, sets the property-tax rate, and authorizes multi-year bond issues.\n- Legislative process: drafting, amending, and voting on resolutions and ordinances; committee work that pre-screens items.\n- Constituent relations in the district \u2014 case-work and community issues flow through the commissioner's office.\n- Willingness to complete the state-required annual continuing education through UT CTAS.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County Commissioner","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":3,"referendum":null,"source":{"retrieved_at":"2026-07-20","title":"lincoln County, TN \u2014 August 6, 2026 Sample Ballot","url":"https://www.lincolncountytn.gov/Documents/Election%20Commission/2026%20Election/GENERAL%20SAMPLE%20BALLOT.pdf"},"title":"County Commissioner District 2"}