Several justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court

North Carolina Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of North Carolina is the state's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists of six associate justices and one chief justice, although the number of justices...

 and judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals

North Carolina Court of Appeals

The North Carolina Court of Appeals is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating groups of three...

 were elected to eight-year terms by North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 voters on November 5, 2002. Party primary elections were held on Sept. 10. This was the last year in which statewide judicial elections were partisan.

The result of the election was that all incumbent Democrats went down to defeat, and only one Democrat won a seat that was open (i.e. the incumbent chose not to run for another term).

Supreme Court (Butterfield seat)

Incumbent G. K. Butterfield

G. K. Butterfield

George Kenneth Butterfield, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2004. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in the northeastern corner of the state.-Early life and education:...

, a Democrat, had been appointed by Gov. Mike Easley

Mike Easley

Michael Francis "Mike" Easley is an American politician who served as the 72nd Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina, from 2001 to 2009. He is member of the North Carolina Democratic Party and became the first North Carolina governor to admit to a felony in a deal that halted a lengthy...

 and faced election for the first time. He was defeated by attorney Edward Thomas Brady

Edward Thomas Brady

Edward Thomas Brady is an American trial attorney and former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He was elected in November 2002 as a Republican, defeating incumbent G. K. Butterfield. His term expired in January 2011 and he did not seek re-election in 2010. He was the last...

, a Republican.

In the Republican primary, Brady had defeated Judge Ralph A. Walker.

Supreme Court (Orr seat)

Incumbent Robert F. Orr

Robert F. Orr

Robert F. Orr is an American lawyer, formerly an Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.Orr was born in Norfolk, Virginia and spent his childhood in Hendersonville, North Carolina. After earning his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Orr served...

, a Republican, defeated North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Robert C. Hunter

Robert C. Hunter

Robert C. Hunter is an American jurist, currently a Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.Hunter, born in Marion, North Carolina, earned a degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1966 before earning his Juris Doctor degree from the same...

, a Democrat.

In the Democratic primary, Hunter had defeated attorney Bradley K. Greenway.

Court of Appeals (Biggs seat)

Incumbent Loretta C. Biggs, a Democrat, was narrowly defeated by Sanford L. Steelman, Jr.

Sanford L. Steelman, Jr.

Sanford L. Steelman, Jr. is an American judge, currently serving as a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.Steelman attended Davidson College, earning a degree in political science in 1973, and then a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976...

, a Republican. There were no primaries.

Court of Appeals (Bryant seat)

Incumbent Wanda G. Bryant

Wanda G. Bryant

Wanda G. Bryant is an American judge, currently an Associate Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals.Born in Southport, North Carolina, Bryant earned an undergraduate degree in history and comparative area studies from Duke University in 1977, then earned her Juris Doctor degree from North...

, a Democrat, was defeated by District Court Judge Ann Marie Calabria

Ann Marie Calabria

Ann Marie Calabria is an American jurist, currently a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals.Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Calabria studied at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she earned a B.A., then at Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, where she earned a...

, a Republican.

In the Republican primary, Calabria had defeated Nathanael K. (Nate) Pendley.

Court of Appeals (Campbell seat)

Incumbent Hugh Brown Campbell, Jr., a Democrat, was defeated by District Court Judge Eric Levinson, a Republican.

In the Republican primary, Levinson had defeated Lorrie L. Dollar.

Court of Appeals (Thomas seat)

In the open-seat contest, Martha Geer, a Democrat, narrowly defeated Bill Constangy, a Republican.

In the Democratic primary, Geer had defeated Marcus W. Williams.

Court of Appeals (Walker seat)

In the open-seat contest, Rick Elmore

Rick Elmore

Rick Elmore is an American judge, currently serving as a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.Elmore earned his undergraduate degree in 1974 from Guilford College in North Carolina, and worked for the North Carolina Department of Correction before earning his Juris Doctor degree from...

, a Republican, defeated George R. Barrett, a Democrat.

In the Democratic primary, Barrett had defeated Beecher Reynolds Gray. In the Republican primary, Elmore had defeated Fritz Mercer.