{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Todd Golden","chatgptsummary":"Todd Golden's biography shows relevant experience in legislative process and constituent relations through his service on the Kingsport City Schools Board since 2014, including budget oversight duties. The record contains no documented controversies or disciplinary actions. Bio does not indicate experience with countywide policy judgment or Tennessee county-government law.","notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":"> **Editorial note \u2014 same-name confusion.** A different, nationally known Todd Golden \u2014 a college basketball coach \u2014 dominates web searches for this name. That person is not the candidate profiled here. The Todd Golden on the Sullivan County ballot is the longtime Kingsport school-board member described below.\n\n## Current office and 2026 campaign\nTodd Golden is a Republican candidate for Sullivan County Commission District 9, which covers part of Kingsport, on the August 6, 2026 county general-election ballot, where voters elect two commissioners for the district [1]. The other Republican nominee in the district is incumbent commissioner Joe Carr [1].\n\n## Office history\nGolden is an at-large member of the Kingsport City Schools Board of Education. He was appointed to the board in 2014 to fill a vacancy, elected in 2015, and re-elected in 2019 and 2024; his school-board term runs through August 31, 2028 [2].\n\n## Background and education\nA native of Albany, Georgia, Golden has lived in Kingsport for more than two decades [2]. He holds degrees in technical sales from Brigham Young University-Idaho and Weber State University [2].\n\n## Career\nGolden worked for Hewlett-Packard as a sales manager and corporate trainer before relocating to Kingsport [2]. He speaks fluent Spanish and served as a missionary in Colombia, has taught business and Spanish courses, founded Kingsport's Day of Service, and is active with the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce [2].\n\n## Family\nGolden is married with five children, three of whom attend Kingsport City Schools [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [August 6, 2026 Official Ballot for Sullivan County](https://www.wate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2026/07/Sullivan-County-August-6-Sample-Ballot.pdf) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Todd Golden - Board Members, Kingsport City Schools](https://www.k12k.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=345567&type=d&pREC_ID=753640) - accessed 2026-07-23\n\n## Further candidate material (not accessible for this profile)\nThese are the candidate's own materials, which we were unable to access to verify additional detail:\n- [Q&A with Todd Golden - Kingsport Times News](https://timesnews.net/news/367332/qa-with-todd-golden/) (paywalled)\n- [Todd Golden campaign page - Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/toddgoldenboe/) (requires login)","firstname":"Todd","lastname":"Golden","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"A4FHkpptzy"},"token":"todd_golden"},{"candidatename":"Joe Carr","chatgptsummary":"Joe Carr's biography shows incumbent experience serving on the Sullivan County Commission, involving policy judgment, budget approval, and constituent relations within Tennessee county law. In June 2023, he opposed a paid Juneteenth holiday, drawing calls for resignation. On October 19, 2025, he was arrested in North Carolina on charges of sexual battery and public intoxication; these charges were dismissed in February 2026. Bio does not indicate prior experience with state-mandated continuing education or multi-year bond authorization processes.","notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJoe Carr is an incumbent Republican member of the Sullivan County Commission representing District 9 (Kingsport) and a Republican Party nominee for one of the district's two seats in the August 6, 2026 county general election [1][2]. Fellow District 9 Republican Todd Golden also appears on the general-election ballot [2].\n\n## Documented disputes and controversies\nIn June 2023, after the Sullivan County Commission voted 17-4 to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for county employees, Carr \u2014 one of the commissioners who voted no \u2014 wrote a Kingsport Times News column headlined \"Juneteenth has nothing to do with Tennessee\" and characterized it as a \"woke holiday\" [4][3]. The Sullivan County Democratic Party and members of the public called on him to resign or be disciplined; Carr declined to back down from his comments [3][4].\n\nOn October 19, 2025, Carr was arrested in Asheville, North Carolina, and charged with sexual battery and public intoxication following an early-morning altercation; he was released on a $2,000 bond on October 21 [5][6]. The Sullivan County Democratic Party again called for his resignation [7]. On February 16, 2026, the charges were disposed of in Buncombe County District Court [6]. Carr said the dismissal was \"the vindication I knew would come from the beginning\" and that it affirmed \"a foundational principle of our justice system: the presumption of innocence\" [6].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Sullivan County Commissioners (Sullivan County TN government)](https://sullivancountytn.gov/county-commissioner-information/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Official Ballot for Sullivan County, August 6, 2026](https://www.wate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2026/07/Sullivan-County-August-6-Sample-Ballot.pdf) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[3] [Sullivan Co. Democratic Party calls for Commissioner Joe Carr's resignation (WJHL)](https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/sullivan-co-democratic-party-calls-for-commissioner-joe-carrs-resignation/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[4] [Carr doubles down as calls, emails demand his resignation (Johnson City Press)](https://www.johnsoncitypress.com/news/appalachian-highlands/carr-doubles-down-as-calls-emails-demand-his-resignation/article_45aa548c-39a2-57cf-81dd-9c368209f2da.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[5] [Sullivan County commissioner arrested for sexual battery in Asheville (WCYB)](https://wcyb.com/news/local/sullivan-county-commissioner-arrested-for-sexual-battery-in-asheville) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[6] [Sexual battery, public intoxication charges against Sullivan Co. Commissioner Joe Carr dropped (Yahoo/WJHL)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/sexual-battery-public-intoxication-charges-154148357.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23\n[7] [Sullivan County Democratic Party calls for resignation of Sullivan County commissioner (WCYB)](https://wcyb.com/news/local/sullivan-county-democratic-party-calls-for-resignation-of-sullivan-county-commissioner) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"Joe","lastname":"Carr","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"mfPb7lfOyB"},"token":"joe_carr"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"county_commissioner","o.office":null,"office":"county_commission_district_9","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":2,"referendum":null,"source":{"retrieved_at":"2026-07-19","title":"sullivan County, TN \u2014 August 6, 2026 Sample Ballot","url":"https://www.scelect.org/aug2026gensampleballot.pdf"},"title":"County Commission District 9"}