{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Linda M. Hooper","chatgptsummary":"Hooper's thirty-year career as a principal and curriculum director demonstrates experience in policy judgment, constituent relations, and educational leadership relevant to the School Board role. The biography contains no record of controversy or disciplinary action. Bio does not indicate experience with district budgeting or state-mandated training completion.","notes":null,"party":"D","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nLinda M. Hooper is the Democratic candidate for the Marion County School Board, District 5 (Whitwell area), on the August 6, 2026 county general ballot, where she faces Republican Marie Layne [1][2]. She was the only candidate on the May 5, 2026 Democratic primary ballot for the seat [3].\n\n## Career and office history\nHooper is a longtime Marion County educator. She served as principal of Whitwell Middle School and was previously director of curriculum for Marion County Schools, with more than three decades of experience in education [4][5].\n\n## Legislative record and accomplishments\nAs principal of Whitwell Middle School, Hooper launched the Paper Clips Project in 1998. What began as an eighth-grade Holocaust-education class taught by teachers Sandra Roberts and David Smith grew into a student campaign to collect one paper clip for each Holocaust victim; the effort ultimately gathered tens of millions of paper clips and led to the creation of the Children's Holocaust Memorial at Whitwell Middle School, which includes an authentic German rail car [4][5][6]. The project drew international attention and was the subject of the 2004 documentary film \"Paper Clips\" [6].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [DECISION 2026: What's on the ballot in Marion County? (local3news.com)](https://www.local3news.com/local-news/decision/decision-2026-what-s-on-the-ballot-in-marion-county/article_55cd08e3-a2d9-4e9a-b93c-a85660ea2f05.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Marion County Voters Preparing for August General Election (svalleynow.com)](https://svalleynow.com/2026/05/31/marion-county-voters-preparing-for-august-general-election/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[3] [Official Ballot for Marion County Primary Election, May 5, 2026 (marionvotes.com)](https://marionvotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Marion-2026P-Newspaper.pdf) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[4] [I Am a Rural Teacher: Taylor Kilgore and Linda Hooper, Whitwell, TN (iamaruralteacher.org)](https://iamaruralteacher.org/stories/taylor-kilgore-linda-hooper-tn) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[5] [The Paper Clips Project: Students Bring Holocaust History to Southeastern Tennessee (Our Towns Foundation)](https://www.ourtownsfoundation.org/the-paper-clips-project-students-bring-holocaust-history-to-southeastern-tennessee/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[6] [Paper Clips Project (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Clips_Project) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"Linda","lastname":"Hooper","middlename":"M.","suffix":null,"token":"Ia2wOt5z3b"},"token":"linda_m_hooper"},{"candidatename":"Marie Layne","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":null,"firstname":"Marie","lastname":"Layne","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"9Mx9s8UBrl"},"token":"marie_layne"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"school_board","o.office":null,"office":"county_school_board_district_5","officedescription":"A school board member serves on the elected body that governs a public school district. The board sets district policy and budget priorities and hires and evaluates the superintendent, while leaving day-to-day management to the administration.","officequalities":"- Policy judgment for a public school district \u2014 setting direction while leaving day-to-day management to the superintendent.\n- Budget literacy for operating and capital budgets, in coordination with the county commission (which appropriates) and the state.\n- Ability to hire, evaluate, and when necessary replace the superintendent \u2014 the board's highest-stakes recurring decision.\n- Constituent relations with parents, teachers, principals, and community members.\n- Willingness to complete the state-required annual training through the Tennessee School Boards Association.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"School Board Member","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":{"retrieved_at":"2026-07-20","title":"marion County, TN \u2014 August 6, 2026 Sample Ballot","url":"https://marionvotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Marion-Newspaper-8-6-26.pdf"},"title":"School Board District 5"}