If there’s any takeaway for judicial candidates from Raleigh politics over the past few months, it’s that no one is safe.
Lawmakers are expected to vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes tomorrow — House Bill 3, which addresses the constitutional amendment captions and Senate Bill 3, which changes the rules about which judicial candidates can have a party designation by their name on the November ballot.
The latter requires judicial candidates to have been affiliated with the party they are registered with for at least 90 days — a status quo requirement that Republicans changed when they eliminated judicial primaries but then changed again in a special session after a state Supreme Court candidate took advantage of the relaxed ballot access.
But the candidate lawmakers have targeted with Senate Bill 3, Chris Anglin (who changed his Democratic voter registration to Republican on June 7), isn’t the only one who will be affected. Here’s the full list of candidates who would lose party affiliations on the ballot if lawmakers override the SB3 veto (according to the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement):
- Michael John Stading, of Mecklenburg — he filed for seat 1 in District Court district 26A and changed his Democratic registration to Republican on May 29.
- Kevin Grist Eddinger, of Rowan — he filed for seat 1 in District Court district 19C and changed his Democratic registration to Unaffiliated on May 14.
- Rebecca Anne Edwards, of Wake — she filed for seat 2 in District Court district 10D and changed her Republican registration to Democratic on May 30.
Anglin has already threatened to sue as early as Monday if lawmakers override the veto. House and Senate sessions are scheduled to convene at 11 a.m. tomorrow.