Democrat and incumbent state Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls declared victory Tuesday after taking a large lead over challenger Sarah Stevens in unofficial results.
Earls is a former civil rights attorney who founded the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. It will be her second eight-year term on the state’s highest court.
Stevens is a former State House member who stepped down from the legislature earlier this year. Earls had led Stevens in the polls for months. She also had a significant edge in fundraising over Stevens, by $7.3 million over the election cycle to Stevens’ $559,000.
Earls’ reelection doesn’t affect the partisan balance on the court. She remains one of two Democrats on the seven-member court. But Democrats hope that keeping Earls in her seat will make it easier to flip the court majority when three more seats are up for grabs in 2028.
In addition to the Supreme Court race, voters chose three judges for the state Court of Appeals Tuesday.
Democrats led all three contests by substantial margins in preliminary results.
Incumbent John Arrowood was ahead of Michael Bryne, an administrative law judge, and incumbent Toby Hampson was leading George Bell, a state superior court judge. And in the lone open seat Wake County District Court Judge Christine Walczyk was ahead of Craig Collins, a state superior court judge.
The three Democratic wins kept GOP judges from holding all 15 seats on that court.
