{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Erika Sugarmon","chatgptsummary":"Sugarmon's biography shows relevant experience for District 12 through her current service on the Shelby County Board of Commission and prior role as Deputy Director of Finance, demonstrating budget literacy and legislative process knowledge. Her background includes extensive community engagement via foster parenting and board service. Bio does not indicate prior experience in land use policy or intergovernmental relations within Tennessee county-government law.","notes":null,"party":"D","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nErika Sugarmon was elected to the Shelby County Board of Commission to represent District 12 on August 4, 2022. She is currently an educator for the Shelby County Schools (24 yrs.). She previously held the position of Deputy Director of Finance for the Shelby County Criminal Court.\n\nErika Sugarmon earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Master of Public Administration (MPA), and a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) from the University of Memphis. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Education Leadership & Policy (EdD) at the University of Memphis.\n\nErika Sugarmon serves on the Board of Women in Leadership Leaning on Wisdom (WILLOW), Tennessee Women\u2019s Political Caucus (TN-WPC), Shelby County Democratic Party (SCDP), and Memphis-Shelby County Education Association (M-SCEA). She has served as the Youth Village Council Chair and on the Foster Care Review Board. She also served on the TN COVID-19 Health Care Task Force. She has been a National Education and Tennessee Education Association (NEA & TEA) delegate.\n\nErika Sugarmon is the daughter of a Civil Rights Lawyer, the late Judge Russell B. Sugarmon, social justice activist, professor, and author, the later Dr. Miriam DeCosta Willis. Erika is the sister of the Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge, Tarik Sugarmon, and her other siblings include Elena Williamson and Monique Sugarmon. Erika has three children and five grandchildren and has been a foster and respite parent for several years.\n\n## Business interests and wealth source\n- **2026** \u2014 [County Commission (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=SUGARMON&id=81347&f=197809&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n- **2026** \u2014 [County Commission (SS-8005 (Amended))](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=SUGARMON&id=81347&f=197809&v=2) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n- **2025** \u2014 [County Commission (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=SUGARMON&id=81347&f=182290&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n- **2024** \u2014 [County Commission (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=SUGARMON&id=81347&f=178739&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n\n*Source: [Tennessee Ethics Commission Statement of Interest Search](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/search.htm). Scraped 2026-04-25.*\n","firstname":"Erika","lastname":"Sugarmon","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"KGx7y32leP"},"token":"erika_sugarmon"},{"candidatename":"Andrea Bell","chatgptsummary":"Andrea Bell's biography shows current service as a Shelby County Commissioner for District 12, demonstrating familiarity with local legislative processes and constituent relations. The record contains no documented controversies or disciplinary actions. Bio does not indicate prior experience in budget management or formal policy judgment on countywide matters.","notes":"","party":"I","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nAndrea Bell is an Independent candidate seeking election to Shelby County Commission District 12 in 2026 [1]. She has officially reiterate her campaign for the position, describing herself as an independent voice for the community [5]. Her stated priorities include fiscal responsibility, affordable housing, and education reform [5].\n\nBell maintains a dedicated campaign website and social media presence to support her bid [2][4]. Through her campaign channels, she emphasizes putting people over party and aims to lower the tax burden while making living in District 12 sustainable for families [5].\n\n## Background and education\n\nThe provided sources do not contain information regarding Andrea Bell's birthplace, year of birth, upbringing, religion, schools attended, or degrees earned. The available materials focus on her current campaign for Shelby County Commissioner District 12 as an independent candidate, her stated policy priorities such as fiscal responsibility and affordable housing, and links to her campaign website and social media presence [2], [3], [5]. No biographical details about her early life or education are present in the cited texts.\n\nNO_CONTENT\n\n## Office history\n\nAndrea Bell has held elected office as a member of the Shelby County Commission for District 12[2]. She is currently running for re-election to this position as an Independent candidate in the upcoming election cycle[1][5].\n\nBell has previously run for the Shelby County Commission, District 12 seat in prior election cycles, though specific outcomes for those earlier races are not detailed in the available source materials[1][2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Andrea Bell - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Andrea_Bell)\n[2] [ANDREA BELL for SHELBY COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 12](https://www.voteandreabell.com/)\n[3] [Photo Gallery](https://www.voteandreabell.com/photos)\n[4] [Andrea Bell (@AndreaBell2026) / Posts / X - Twitter](https://x.com/AndreaBell2026)\n[5] [Andrea Bell for Shelby County Commission District 12 - Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/61585466914612/posts/-excited-to-officially-reiterate-my-campaign-for-shelby-county-commission-distri/122125322703182230/)","firstname":"Andrea","lastname":"Bell","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"9x3PpbLJSA"},"token":"andrea_bell"}],"choices":null,"description":"","district":"12","districtgroup":"county_commission","districtgroupname":"County Commission","districtname":"District 12","job_type":"county_commissioner","o.office":"county_commission_district_12","office":"county_commission_district_12","officedescription":"Shelby County Commissioners are the 13 members of the county's legislative body. Each represents a single-member district, and together they pass resolutions and ordinances, approve the annual county budget, set the property-tax rate, and set countywide policy. They attend regular Monday commission meetings and Wednesday committee meetings and must complete at least seven hours of continuing education each year through the UT County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS).\n\n**Salary:** $34,900/year ([Action News 5, Dec 2021](https://www.actionnews5.com/2021/12/21/pay-raises-approved-elected-officials-shelby-county/)).","officequalities":"- Policy judgment on countywide matters \u2014 budget, taxes, land use, services, intergovernmental \u2014 within Tennessee county-government law and the Shelby County Charter.\n- Budget literacy: the 13-member commission approves the county budget, sets the property-tax rate, and authorizes bond issues that span decades.\n- Legislative process: drafting, amending, and voting on resolutions and ordinances; chairing or sitting on committees that pre-screen items.\n- Constituent relations in a single-member district of roughly 70,000 residents \u2014 case-work and community issues flow through the commissioner's office.\n- Willingness to complete the state-required seven hours of annual continuing education through UT CTAS.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County Commissioner District 12","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":"","source":null,"title":"County Commissioner District 12"}