2016 North Carolina judicial election

One justice of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and five judges of the 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 8, 2016, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years.

Elections in North Carolina

Elections for seats on both courts were technically nonpartisan, but under a bill passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Pat McCrory in 2015, House Bill 8, the party affiliations of Court of Appeals candidates were printed on the ballot. Court of Appeals candidates of all party affiliations would still run in one primary under the law, while the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, would advance to the general election.[1] Primary elections would have been held on March 15, 2016, for seats with more than two candidates, but in the end, only two candidates filed for each Court of Appeals seat.[2]

Supreme Court (Edmunds seat)

The seat held by Robert H. Edmunds, Jr. was on the 2016 ballot. Under current state law, Edmunds would have to relinquish his seat in 2021 if he was re-elected in 2016, because he would reach mandatory retirement age.

A 2015 change in state law was set to make Edmunds the first sitting justice who had the option of running in a retention election rather than running against other candidates. Edmunds chose that option, which would have meant that the state's voters would only be able to vote "for" or "against" Edmunds in the November election.[3][4] If a majority of voters voted "against," the Governor would appoint a new justice to serve until the next general election. Critics cast this as an attempt by Republicans in the legislature to maintain the 4-3 Republican majority on the Court. Edmunds is a Republican, as is the current governor, who would appoint any replacement.[5] Attorney Sabra Faires and two voters filed a lawsuit, claiming the new election method violated the Constitution of North Carolina and was not an election at all, but a referendum. Faires said she wanted to run for the seat.[6] A three-judge panel found in favor of Faires and the two voters, and the State Board of Elections established a new candidate filing period of March 16–25. If more than two candidates filed for the seat, there would be a primary election on June 7.[7]

Edmunds and Faires both filed to run for the seat on March 16. Wake County Superior Court Judge Michael R. Morgan then filed on March 21, and was joined later by attorney Daniel Robertson, setting up a primary.[8]

The state Supreme Court later split 3-3 (with Edmunds recusing himself) on the constitutionality of the retention election, leaving the lower court ruling intact.[9]

Morgan defeated Edmunds in the general election, garnering more than 54 percent of the vote.[10] Morgan's victory gave the Supreme Court a Democratic majority for the first time since the 1998 elections.[11]

Primary election

Although the election is officially nonpartisan, Edmunds is a registered Republican, Morgan is a registered Democrat, and Faires was registered as unaffiliated.[12]

Candidates
  • Robert H. Edmunds, Jr., incumbent Associate Justice[12]
  • Sabra Jean Faires, former assistant North Carolina Secretary of Revenue[12]
  • Michael R. Morgan, Wake County superior court judge[12]
  • Dan Robertson, former general counsel for the Bank of Carolinas[12]

Results
Nonpartisan primary results[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Robert H. Edmunds (incumbent) 235,405 48.0
Nonpartisan Michael R. Morgan 168,498 34.4
Nonpartisan Sabra Jean Faires 59,040 12.0
Nonpartisan Daniel Robertson 27,401 5.6
Total votes 490,344 100.0

General election

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin
of error		 Bob
Edmunds		 Mike
Morgan		 Undecided
Public Policy Polling August 5–7, 2016 830 ± 3.4% 21% 21% 58%
Public Policy Polling June 20–21, 2016 947 ± 3.2% 28% 24% 48%

Results
North Carolina State Supreme Court Seat election, 2016[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Michael R. Morgan 2,157,927 54.5
Nonpartisan Robert H. Edmunds (incumbent) 1,803,425 45.5
Total votes 3,961,352 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican

Court of Appeals (Dietz seat)

The seat held by Richard Dietz, who was appointed to the Court in 2014, was on the 2016 ballot.

General election

Candidates

Results
North Carolina State Court of Appeals (Dietz Seat) election, 2016[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard Dietz (incumbent) 2,353,604 53.5
Democratic Vince Rozier 2,048,367 46.5
Total votes 4,401,971 100.0
Republican hold

Court of Appeals (Geer seat)

Judge Martha Geer announced on March 16, 2016, that she would resign to return to private practice. Consequently, the seat was on the November 2016 ballot. Because of the timing of Geer's resignation, there would be no primary election.[17] In the interim, Gov. Pat McCrory appointed Chief District Court Judge Wendy Enochs to fill the seat.[18]

Hunter Murphy, a Republican who ran for a Court of Appeals seat in 2014, declared his candidacy on March 17, 2016.[19] Murphy is a trial attorney in Waynesville and was endorsed by retired North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robert (Bob) Orr, the North Carolina Troopers Association and the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police.

Wake County District Court Judge Margaret Eagles, a Democrat, was also a candidate for the seat, and was endorsed by Judge Geer, former Chief Justice Burley Mitchell, and the NC Police Benevolent Association.[20][21][22]

Forsyth County-based attorney Donald R. Buie, not affiliated with any party, was also a candidate for this seat.[23]

General election

Candidates
  • Donald R. Buie (Unaffiliated)[15]
  • Margaret Eagles (Democratic), Wake County district court judge[15]
  • Hunter Murphy (Republican), trial attorney[15]

Results
North Carolina State Court of Appeals (Geer Seat) election, 2016[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Hunter Murphy 2,159,193 48.7
Democratic Margaret Eagles 2,021,769 45.6
Independent Donald Ray Buie 252,756 5.7
Total votes 4,433,718 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

Court of Appeals (Hunter seat)

The seat held by Robert N. Hunter, Jr. was on the 2016 ballot. Under current state law, Hunter would have to relinquish his seat in 2019 if he was re-elected in 2016, because he will reach mandatory retirement age.

General election

Candidates
  • Abraham Jones (Democratic), Wake County superior court judge[24]
  • Robert N. Hunter, Jr. (Republican), incumbent Judge[15]

Results
North Carolina State Court of Appeals (Hunter Seat) election, 2016[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Robert Hunter (incumbent) 2,403,059 54.4
Democratic Abraham Jones 2,016,552 45.6
Total votes 4,419,611 100.0
Republican hold

Court of Appeals (Stephens seat)

The seat held by Linda Stephens was on the 2016 ballot. A Democrat, she ran for re-election, and was endorsed by former Chief Judges of the Court of Appeals John C. Martin, Sidney S. Eagles, Jr., and Gerald Arnold.[25]

Under current state law, Stephens would have to relinquish her seat in 2022 if she was re-elected in 2016, because she will reach mandatory retirement age.

General election

Candidates
  • Phil Berger, Jr. (Republican), Rockingham County district attorney[26]
  • Linda Stephens (Democratic), incumbent Judge[15]

Results
North Carolina State Court of Appeals (Stephens Seat) election, 2016[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Phil Berger 2,233,730 50.2
Democratic Linda Stephens (incumbent) 2,211,631 49.8
Total votes 4,445,361 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

Court of Appeals (Zachary seat)

The seat held by Valerie Zachary was on the 2016 ballot. She was appointed to the seat in 2015 to replace retiring Judge Sanford Steelman. Zachary, a Republican, ran for a full term.

General election

Candidates
  • Rickye McKoy-Mitchell (Democratic), Mecklenburg County district court judge[15]
  • Valerie Zachary (Republican), incumbent Judge[15]

Results
North Carolina State Court of Appeals (Zachary Seat) election, 2016[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Valerie Zachary (incumbent) 2,361,232 53.8
Democratic Rickye McKoy-Mitchell 2,027,078 46.2
Total votes 4,388,310 100.0
Republican hold
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References
  1. News & Observer: NC House votes to add party labels to Court of Appeals elections
  2. Duke Chronicle
  3. NC Appellate Practice Blog
  4. Associated Press: NC Justice Edmunds to run for re-election in up-or-down vote
  5. Independent Weekly: Meet the N.C. GOP's latest racket: rigging the state Supreme Court
  6. WRAL: Retention elections for justices challenged in court
  7. Press release from State Board of Elections
  8. List of Candidates from State Board of Elections Archived 2016-03-21 at the Wayback Machine
  9. NC Supreme Court opinion
  10. NC State Board of Elections Nov. 8 judicial election results
  11. The Times-News
  12. "Talented crop running for Supreme Court". The Charlotte Observer. May 26, 2019.
  13. "06/07/2016 OFFICIAL LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE". North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  14. "11/08/2016 OFFICIAL GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE". North Carolina State Board of Elections.
  15. Blythe, Anne (November 5, 2016). "NC voters see party affiliation on the ballot for nonpartisan NC Court of Appeals races". Raleigh News & Observer.
  16. Bonner, Lynn (September 14, 2015). "Wake judge to run for appeals court". Raleigh News & Observer.
  17. WRAL: Court of Appeals Judge Geer leaving for private practice Archived 2016-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
  18. "Governor McCrory announces judicial appointment, July 28, 2016". Archived from the original on August 1, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  19. Twitter
  20. Facebook
  21. Facebook
  22. Eagles for Judge campaign site
  23. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-11. Retrieved 2016-07-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. Candidate List from NC State Board of Elections
  25. Judge Linda Stephens Announces the Launch of her 2016 Re-Election Campaign
  26. "Phil Berger Jr. seeking seat on N.C. Court of Appeals". Greensboro News & Record. December 17, 2015.
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