Chief Justice Cheri Beasley will run to retain her seat in 2020.
Candidate filing for the 2020 elections in North Carolina has ended, and it’s going to be a big year for judicial races.
There are three seats on the state Supreme Court up for election, and each race will be competitive, according to the candidate filing list from the State Board of Elections, which was last updated at 6:20 p.m. last Friday.
Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, who was appointed to the helm earlier this year, will run against Associate Justice Paul Newby, currently the most senior on the court and the only Republican, to keep her place on the bench. North Carolina Court of Appeals Judges Lucy Inman, a registered Democrat, and Phil Berger Jr., a registered Republican, will vie for the seat Newby leaves behind.
And finally, on the high court, former lawmaker Tamara Barringer, a Republican, will challenge current Associate Justice Mark Davis, a Democrat, in his effort to stay seated after being appointed earlier this year by Gov. Roy Cooper.
There are also five state Court of Appeals races this year. Seat four will be a challenge between Democrat Patricia Shields and Republican April Wood; seat five between Democrat Lora Cubbage and Republican Willie Gore; seat six between Democrat Matthew Gray Styers and Republican Robert Christopher Dillon (incumbent); seat seven between Democrat Reuben Young (incumbent) and Jeffery Carpenter and seat 13 between Democrat Chris Brook (incumbent) and Republican Jefferson Glenn Griffin.
Young and Brook were both appointed to the appellate court by Cooper earlier this year.
It appears there are 163 district court judicial races — those are not statewide — of which 18 are competitive with at least one Democrat and one Republican running (though in some instances more). There are 19 superior court judicial races, of which two are competitive with both parties running.
Below is a list of the competitive district (listed first) and superior court races.
| District (county) and seat number | Candidate name | Candidate party affiliation | City where they reside (per candidate filing address) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3A (Pitt), seat 5 | Wendy Smallwood Hazelton | Democrat | Winterville |
| 3A (Pitt), seat 5 | Kellie Chappell-Gonzalez | Republican | Greenville |
| 4 (Sampson, Duplin, Jones, Onslow), seat 5 | Carol Ann Jones | Democrat | Kenansville |
| 4 (Sampson, Duplin, Jones, Onslow), seat 5 | Robert Harding Gilmore | Republican | Clinton |
| 7 (Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson), seat 3 | William Robert Solomon Jr. | Democrat | Rocky Mount |
| 7 (Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson), seat 3 | Sharon Hill Sprinkle | Republican | Tarboro |
| 7 (Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson), seat 4 | Anthony Waldo Brown | Democrat | Spring Hope |
| 7 (Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson), seat 4 | Joseph Michael Eatmon | Republican | Bailey |
| 8 (Wayne, Green, Lenoir), seat 6 | Gregory Lee Rouse III | Democrat | Kinston |
| 8 (Wayne, Green, Lenoir), seat 6 | Annette Webb Turik | Republican | Kinston |
| 9 (Person, Granville, Franklin, part of Vance), seat 4 | Carolyn Jennings Thompson | Democrat | Oxford |
| 9 (Person, Granville, Franklin, part of Vance), seat 4 | John Hoyte Stultz III | Republican | Roxboro |
| 10F (Wake), seat 2 | Timothy Anthony Gunther | Democrat | Raleigh |
| 10F (Wake), seat 2 | Donna Elizabeth Tanner | Republican | Cary |
| 15A (Alamance), seat 3 | Clifton Douglas Green | Democrat | Graham |
| 15A (Alamance), seat 3 | Julian Marlais Doby | Republican | Haw River |
| 15A (Alamance), seat 3 | Rickey Wayne Champion | Republican | Burlington |
| 19B (Randolph), seat 5 | Jennifer Brooke Schmidly | Democrat | Asheboro |
| 19B (Randolph), seat 5 | Barron Lloyd Thompson | Republican | Asheboro |
| 19B (Randolph), seat 5 | Jane Hughes Redding | Republican | Asheboro |
| 19D (Moore, Hoke), seat 4 | Tiffany Marie Bartholomew | Democrat | Pinehurst |
| 19D (Moore, Hoke), seat 4 | Stephen Anthony Bibey | Republican | Carthage |
| 19D (Moore, Hoke), seat 4 | Marissa Lynn Curry | Republican | Carthage |
| 20D (Union), seat 2 | Althea Richardson-Tucker | Democrat | Monroe |
| 20D (Union), seat 2 | Tiffany N. Wilson | Democrat | Monroe |
| 20D (Union), seat 2 | Cameron Davis Scott | Republican | Waxhaw |
| 20D (Union), seat 2 | Matthew Briar Smith | Republican | Monroe |
| 21 (Forsyth), seat 8 | Thomas Whitmell Davis V | Democrat | Winston-Salem |
| 21 (Forsyth), seat 8 | Michael Trevin Silver | Republican | Winston-Salem |
| 26 (Mecklenburg), seat 1 | Kimberly Yvette Best | Democrat | Charlotte |
| 26 (Mecklenburg), seat 1 | Patrick Doherty Finn Jr. | Republican | Charlotte |
| 26 (Mecklenburg), seat 9 | Jonathan Rex Marvel | Democrat | Charlotte |
| 26 (Mecklenburg), seat 9 | Phavady Sunny Panyanouvong-Rubeck | Republican | Charlotte |
| 27A (Gaston), seat 3 | Richard Bruce Abernethy | Democrat | Gastonia |
| 27A (Gaston), seat 3 | Donald Turner Rice | Republican | Cramerton |
| 27B (Cleveland), seat 5 | Angela Yvonne Woods | Democrat | Kings Mountain |
| 27B (Cleveland), seat 5 | Colin Perry McWhirter | Democrat | Shelby |
| 27B (Cleveland), seat 5 | James Thomas Hodges Jr. | Republican | Lincolnton |
| 29B (Transylvania, Henderson, Polk), seat 2 | Charles Wyatt McKeller | Democrat | Brevard |
| 29B (Transylvania, Henderson, Polk), seat 2 | Gene Benton Johnson | Republican | Hendersonville |
| 30 (Cherokee, Clay, Graham,Swain, Macon, Jackson, Haywood), seat 6 | Justin Brice Greene | Democrat | Bryson City |
| 30 (Cherokee, Clay, Graham,Swain, Macon, Jackson, Haywood), seat 6 | Kaleb Daniel Wingate | Republican | Waynesville |
| 30 (Cherokee, Clay, Graham,Swain, Macon, Jackson, Haywood), seat 6 | James Herman Moore Jr. | Republican | Waynesville |
| 30 (Cherokee, Clay, Graham,Swain, Macon, Jackson, Haywood), seat 6 | Richard Eugene Cassady | Republican | Franklin |
| 30 (Cherokee, Clay, Graham,Swain, Macon, Jackson, Haywood), seat 6 | Mitchell Keith Brewer | Republican | Hayesville |
| District (county) and seat number | Candidate name | Candidate party affiliation | City where they reside (per candidate filing address) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20B (Union), seat 1 | Nathan Hunt Gwyn III | Democrat | Monroe |
| 20B (Union), seat 1 | Jonathan Wade Perry | Republican | Monroe |
| 26A (Mecklenburg), seat 1 | Alicia Brooks | Democrat | Matthews |
| 26A (Mecklenburg), seat 1 | David Hugh Strickland | Republican | Charlotte |
| 26A (Mecklenburg), seat 1 | Charles M. Visor | Republican | Charlotte |