Four justices of the seven-member

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

and four judges of the 15-member

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was created ...

were elected by

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

voters on November 4, 2014, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. Assessing the election results,

Politifact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...

writer Louis Jacobson noted that Supreme Court races in North Carolina and other states yielded "better-than-average results" for Democrats, who otherwise suffered heavy defeats across the country. "In a series of hotly contested North Carolina contests, two Democratic-leaning judges '' rvin and Hudson' prevailed, one Democrat '' easley' was leading in a very close race, and one Republican '' hief Justice Martin' was re-elected," Jacobson wrote. At the Court of Appeals level, two Democrats, Lucy Inman and Mark Davis, and one Republican, John Tyson, were elected in contested races, while another Republican, Donna Stroud, was re-elected without opposition. North Carolina ranked second among all states in total spending on judicial election campaigns in 2014.

Supreme Court (Chief Justice)

Chief Justice

Sarah Parker Sarah Parker (born August 23, 1942) is an American judge who served as the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from February 2006 until August 2014. Education and career Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, Parker attended Meredith ...

stepped down from her position on the Court in 2014 because she reached the mandatory retirement age of 72. Her seat would have been on the November 2014 election ballot in any event, since she was elected Chief Justice in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

to an eight-year term.

Candidates

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...

(Republican), incumbent Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina *Ola Lewis (Republican), Brunswick County

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

judge

Polling

Results

Supreme Court (Martin seat)

The seat formerly held by Associate Justice

was on the ballot. Justice Martin was appointed to the position of chief justice, effective Sept. 1, and ran for that seat.

Candidates

* Sam J. Ervin IV (Democratic), incumbent Judge of the

(2009–2014) * Robert N. Hunter, Jr. (Republican), incumbent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina

Polling

Results

Supreme Court (Hudson seat)

Associate Justice

Robin E. Hudson Robin Elizabeth Hudson (born February 20, 1952) is an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Early life and education Born in DeKalb County, Georgia, after studying philosophy and psychology at Ya ...

ran for re-election to a second term.

Candidates

*Jeanette Doran (Republican), chair of the North Carolina Division of Employment Security Board of Review *

(Democratic), incumbent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina * Eric L. Levinson (Republican), Mecklenburg County

judge

Primary election

Results

General election

Polling

Results

Supreme Court (Beasley seat)

Associate Justice Cheri Beasley ran for election to a full term in her own right after she was appointed to the seat by former Governor

Bev Perdue Beverly Eaves Perdue (born Beverly Marlene Moore; January 14, 1947) is an American businesswoman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as the List of governors of North Carolina, 73rd Govern ...

to fill a vacancy. Beasley won election to her first full term with 50.1 percent of the vote. The margin was small enough that a recount would be allowed, if Robinson requested it. He filed such a request for a recount on Nov. 17. After the recount only added a net 17 votes to Robinson's total, he conceded and Beasley was declared the winner on Nov. 25.

Candidates

* Cheri Beasley (Democratic), incumbent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina *Mike Robinson (Republican), private practice attorney

Polling

Results

Court of Appeals (Robert C. Hunter seat)

The seat held by Judge Robert C. Hunter (not to be confused with his colleague on the Court, Robert N. Hunter, Jr.) was on the ballot. Hunter announced on Aug. 14, 2013, that he would not seek re-election. Judges

Lucy Inman Lucy Noble Inman is a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and formerly served as a special North Carolina Superior Court judge. She won election to the appellate court in a North Carolina judicial elections, 2014, statewide race on Novem ...

and Bill Southern were both candidates for the seat. Judge Inman is a special

judge and was appointed to that position in 2010 by former Governor Beverly Perdue. Prior to that, she was a trial lawyer. Judge Southern currently serves on the District Court bench for Stokes and Surry Counties. He was elected to that position in 2008 and in 2012. Prior to that, he served as an assistant district attorney in Stokes and Surry Counties. Inman won election to her first term on the North Carolina Court of Appeals with 51.9 percent of the vote.

Polling

Results

Court of Appeals (Stroud seat)

Judge

Donna Stroud Donna S. Stroud (born June 28, 1964) is an American lawyer and jurist who was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the November 2006 general election. She was reelected to the court unopposed in 2014. Stroud was appointed Chief Jud ...

ran unopposed for re-election.

Results

Court of Appeals (Davis seat)

Judge Mark A. Davis ran for a full term after serving out the remainder of Judge Cheri Beasley's unexpired term. Beasley was appointed to the Supreme Court. District Court Judge Paul A. Holcombe also ran for this seat. Paul Holcombe has been a District Court Judge for Johnston, Harnett and Lee Counties since January 2009. Davis won his first full term by taking 58.8 percent of the vote.

Polling

Results

Court of Appeals (John C. Martin seat)

On July 9, 2014, Chief Judge John C. Martin announced his retirement, effective August 1, 2014, creating another opening to be filled by voters in the general election. Because of the date of his retirement, no primary election was held for the seat. Governor

Pat McCrory Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor o ...

appointed Judge Lisa Bell to hold the Martin seat for the remainder of the year, but she was not among the candidates who ran for a full term. Nineteen candidates filed for the special election. They included former Court of Appeals Judge

John Arrowood John S. Arrowood (born November 4, 1956) is an American attorney and judge. In April 2017, Arrowood was appointed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals by Governor Roy Cooper, to replace Judge Doug McCullough, a Republican who resigned one mont ...

of Charlotte, Raleigh attorney Betsy Bunting, District Court Judge Lori G. Christian, Raleigh bankruptcy attorney Jeffrey Cook, Raleigh Deputy Industrial Commissioner and former Court of Appeals staff lawyer J. Brad Donovan,

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

attorney Daniel Patrick Donahue, Raleigh attorney Sabra Faires, former Superior Court judge Abe Jones, New Bern attorney Ann Kirby, Deputy Industrial Commissioner Keischa Lovelace, Raleigh attorney Marty Martin, Haywood County trial attorney Hunter Murphy, Raleigh attorney Joseph "Jody" Newsome, Raleigh attorney Patricia "Tricia" Shields, Raleigh attorney Elizabeth Davenport Scott, former Court of Appeals Judge John M. Tyson of Cumberland County, Brunswick County District Court Judge Marion Warren, Greensboro attorney and former State Board of Elections member Chuck Winfree, and Yadkinville attorney Valerie Johnson Zachary. Judge Tyson won his second full term on the court with 23.9 percent of the vote. Arrowood placed second with 14.4 percent. No other candidate took more than 10 percent of the vote.

Results

References

State Board of Elections: Judicial Officeholders

External links

State Board of Elections: General Election Judicial Voter GuideVideos of Judicial Candidate Forums by UNC-TV
{{North Carolina judicial elections

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudication, adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and app ...

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