2018 North Carolina judicial elections

One justice of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and three judges of the 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 6, 2018, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. These elections were partisan for the first time since the elections of 2002.[1] A law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2017 cancelled primary elections for judicial elections in 2018 only, meaning that an unlimited number of candidates from any party could run in the general election.[2]

Democrats won all four races in November 2018, representing an increase of one Democrat on the Supreme Court and an increase of two Democrats on the Court of Appeals (with one Democrat elected to the seat he already held by appointment).[3]

Supreme Court Seat 1 (Jackson seat)

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The seat held by Justice Barbara Jackson was on the 2018 ballot.

Candidates

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  • Christopher Anglin (Republican),[a] managing partner at Anglin Law Firm[5]
  • Anita Earls (Democratic), former executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, and former member of the North Carolina State Board of Elections[6]
  • Barbara Jackson (Republican), incumbent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin
of error
Barbara
Jackson (R)
Anita
Earls (D)
Chris
Anglin (R)
Undecided
SurveyUSA[7] October 26–29, 2018 659 (LV) ± 6.0% 22% 44% 19% 16%
Public Policy Polling (D)[8] October 26–28, 2018 675 (LV) 23% 37% 14% 26%
SurveyUSA[9] October 2–6, 2018 561 (LV) ± 5.0% 15% 43% 22% 21%
Harper Polling (R)[10] September 4–7, 2018 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 11% 38% 7% 44%
National Research Inc.[11] June 7 & 9–10, 2018 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 35% 35% 29%
Civitas, Inc. (R)[12] February 6–8, 2018 1000 (RV) ± 3.0% 43% 31% 22%

Results

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Results by county map:
  Earls—80-90%
  Earls—70-80%
  Earls—60-70%
  Earls—50–60%
  Earls—40-50%
  Earls—30-40%
  Jackson—50-60%
  Jackson—40-50%
  Jackson—30-40%
North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 1 election, 2018[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Anita Earls 1,812,751 49.56%
Republican Barbara Jackson (incumbent) 1,246,263 34.07%
Republican Christopher Anglin 598,753 16.37%
Total votes 3,657,767 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

Court of Appeals Seat 1 (Arrowood seat)

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The seat held by Judge John S. Arrowood was on the 2018 ballot. Arrowood was appointed to the seat in 2017 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Douglas McCullough.

Candidates

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Results

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North Carolina State Court of Appeals Seat 1 election, 2018[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John S. Arrowood (incumbent) 1,855,728 50.79%
Republican Andrew Heath 1,797,929 49.21%
Total votes 3,653,657 100.0%
Democratic hold

Court of Appeals Seat 2 (Calabria seat)

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The seat held by Judge Ann Marie Calabria, a Republican, was on the 2018 ballot. Calabria did not run for reelection.

Candidates

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Results

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North Carolina State Court of Appeals Seat 2 election, 2018[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tobias Hampson 1,766,470 48.79%
Republican Jefferson Griffin 1,293,098 35.72%
Republican Sandra Ray 561,015 15.50%
Total votes 3,620,583 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

Court of Appeals Seat 3 (Elmore seat)

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The seat held by Judge Rick Elmore, a Republican, was on the 2018 ballot. Elmore announced in 2017 that he would not seek a third term.[17]

Candidates

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Results

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North Carolina State Court of Appeals Seat 3 election, 2018[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Allegra Katherine Collins 1,773,702 48.58%
Republican Chuck Kitchen 1,709,847 46.83%
Libertarian Michael Monaco, Sr. 167,773 4.59%
Total votes 3,651,322 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

Notes

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  1. ^ Anglin changed his registration to Republican on the day he filed to run.[4]

References

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  1. ^ News & Observer
  2. ^ Greensboro News & Record
  3. ^ Carolina Journal
  4. ^ "Why one NC GOP official calls Republican Supreme Court candidate 'the enemy'". Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  5. ^ "About Us - Anglin Law Firm, PLLC". Anglin Law Firm, PLLC. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  6. ^ NC Policy Watch
  7. ^ SurveyUSA
  8. ^ Public Policy Polling (D)
  9. ^ SurveyUSA
  10. ^ Harper Polling (R)
  11. ^ National Research Inc.
  12. ^ Civitas, Inc. (R)
  13. ^ a b c d 11/06/2018 OFFICIAL GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE
  14. ^ News & Observer
  15. ^ News & Observer: Pat McCrory budget director Andrew Heath to run for NC Court of Appeals
  16. ^ a b c Barrett, Mark (October 22, 2018). "NC Court of Appeals: Griffin, Hampson and Ray running for Seat 2". Asheville Citizen Times.
  17. ^ News & Observer: Court of Appeals Judge Elmore won't seek re-election
  18. ^ Blythe, Anne (May 26, 2017). "Allegra Collins to run for appeals court – 'Because of the law I have to run as a Democrat". Raleigh News & Observer.
  19. ^ a b Barrett, Mark (October 22, 2018). "NC Court of Appeals: Kitchen, Monaco, Collins run for Seat 3". Asheville Citizen Times.
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