{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"CAROLYN TEMPLETON","chatgptsummary":"Templeton's twenty-seven years as Chief Deputy Clerk and current tenure as Sumner County Clerk demonstrate direct experience in motor-vehicle titling, business licensing, and public records management. Her background includes overseeing high-volume administrative functions and citizen services within the office. The biography contains no record of controversy or disciplinary action. Bio does not indicate specific experience with Tennessee statutory updates or financial controls for fee remittance.","notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nCarolyn Templeton is the incumbent Sumner County Clerk and the Republican Party nominee for County Clerk on the August 6, 2026 ballot, facing independent candidate Hayden James Escobar [1]. She won the May 5, 2026 Republican primary with 10,655 votes [2].\n\n## Career and office history\nTempleton was elected Sumner County Clerk in 2022 after serving approximately 27 years as Chief Deputy Clerk in the same office [3][4]. Her work has spanned court administration, public records management, and citizen licensing services; as County Clerk she oversees administrative functions including motor-vehicle titling and registration, business licensing, and public records [3][4].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Federal and State Primary, State Judicial and Sumner County General Elections Sample Ballot](https://www.votesumnertn.org/uploads/files/884379eec0cf6e5fb6f5678acff70a3783bde79d.pdf) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22\n[2] [Sumner County elections: Who's ahead in the May 5 primary's key races](https://www.aol.com/articles/sumner-county-elections-whos-ahead-204532050.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22\n[3] [Carolyn Templeton \u2014 UT County Technical Assistance Service](https://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/official/carolyn-templeton) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22\n[4] [Carolyn Templeton \u2014 Sumner County, Tennessee Government](https://sumnercountytn.gov/carolyn-templeton/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-22","firstname":"CAROLYN","lastname":"TEMPLETON","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"LsXri8EMfU"},"token":"carolyn_templeton"},{"candidatename":"HAYDEN JAMES ESCOBAR","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"I","person":{"biography":null,"firstname":"HAYDEN","lastname":"ESCOBAR","middlename":"JAMES","suffix":null,"token":"Qq8WOTOjE4"},"token":"hayden_james_escobar"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"county_clerk","o.office":null,"office":"county_clerk","officedescription":"The county clerk handles a broad set of public transactions and records: marriage and business licenses, motor-vehicle titling and registration, notary commissions, and the official minutes of the county commission. It is a high-volume administrative and records office.","officequalities":"- Administration of motor-vehicle registration, license plates, marriage licenses, and business-tax registrations \u2014 a high-volume, public-facing operation.\n- Working knowledge of the Tennessee statutes governing each of those functions, which change regularly.\n- Customer-service capacity: the clerk's office is one of the most-visited county offices by ordinary residents.\n- Financial controls for collecting state and local fees and remitting them accurately.\n- Supervision of office staff handling high transaction volume, and technology and process management as more services move online.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County Clerk","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":{"retrieved_at":"2026-07-19","title":"sumner County, TN \u2014 August 6, 2026 Sample Ballot","url":"https://www.votesumnertn.org/uploads/files/b131fe1092a6465a92a366ccaf28782e09dcabe8.pdf"},"title":"County Clerk"}