Candidate filing begins Monday for this year’s judicial elections in North Carolina. The filing period comes in the wake of a series of political and court battles over how judges should be elected in the state.
Voters across the state will elect about three dozen Superior Court and around 120 District Court judges this fall. Statewide, ballots will include one North Carolina Supreme Court seat and three spots on the state Court of Appeals.
Judicial elections are taking place this year with no primaries, which the Republican-controlled legislature voted last fall to eliminate. A federal judge in January ordered that the partisan contests be reinstated for statewide judgeships. But in April, a panel of federal appeals judges overruled, and the primaries never took place.
Republicans and Democrats have also sparred for months over GOP efforts to redraw judicial election districts. Democratic governor Roy Cooper on Friday vetoed one recently revised bill that would reshape Superior and District Court districts in Mecklenburg, Wake, and two Wilmington-area counties. In a statement, Cooper accused GOP lawmakers of trying to “target judges” and “rig the courts.” Republicans are expected to take a veto override vote this week.
Candidates have until June 29to file for judicial races in the November 6 election.
