North Carolina judicial elections, 2010
Encyclopedia
One justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
and five judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals
were elected by North Carolina
voters on November 2, 2010, on the same day as the U.S. Senate election
, U.S. House elections
, and other state-level elections. North Carolina judicial elections are non-partisan. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. All incumbent judges and justices who sought re-election won their respective races, except for Judge Cressie Thigpen
of the Court of Appeals, who had been appointed shortly before the election and lost North Carolina's first statewide instant runoff.
did not file to run for re-election. N.C. Court of Appeals Judges Robert C. Hunter
and Barbara Jackson
filed to run for the open seat.
first announced that she would not seek re-election, but then reversed course and filed to run for another term. Judge Calabria had intended to run for re-election until her mother’s health declined. Then, her mother's health improved before the deadline to file as a candidate. Other candidates who filed for the seat included state District Court Judge Jane P. Gray
of Wake County and Superior Court Judge Mark E. Klass of Davidson County. Because more than two candidates filed for the seat, a primary election was held on May 4 to eliminate one candidate. Calabria won the primary with 37 percent, while Gray came in second with 36 percent of the vote. Klass, who took 26 percent, was eliminated. Calabria and Gray faced off in the general election.
filed to run for re-election. Attorney Leto Copeley of Orange County, law clerk and 2005 law school graduate Steven Walker, and attorney Alton D. (Al) Bain also filed. Because more than two candidates filed for the seat, a primary election was held on May 4. Walker was the highest vote getter in the primary with 38 percent, followed by Elmore with 28 percent. Copeley, with 18 percent, and Bain, with 14 percent, were eliminated from the race. Walker and Elmore faced off in the general election.
was opposed by appeals referee and adjunct law instructor Dean R. Poirier.
announced in 2009 that he would run for re-election to a second term. No candidates filed to oppose him.
was appointed and confirmed as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, that triggered a special election for his seat. Under state law, because the vacancy in Wynn's seat occurred after the state's primary elections, the election employed instant runoff voting -- the first time such a mechanism had been used in a statewide election in North Carolina. Governor Perdue appointed Cressie Thigpen
to fill the seat through the election. Thigpen then filed to run for the full eight-year term, as did twelve other candidates, including attorneys Chris Dillon , Anne Middleton, John Sullivan and Pamela Vesper, all of Raleigh; attorney J. Wesley Casteen of Wilmington; attorney Daniel Garner of Wake Forest; attorneys John Bloss, Jewel Ann Farlow (a 2008
candidate) and Stan Hammer, all of Greensboro; Superior Court Judge Mark E. Klass (who had previously run for the Calabria seat); former Court of Appeals Judge Douglas McCullough
; and former North Carolina Commissioner of Labor
Harry Payne.
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 five 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 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 2, 2010, on the same day as the U.S. Senate election
United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 2, 2010. The filing deadline for the primaries was February 26; the primaries were held on May 4, with a Democratic primary runoff held on June 22. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Richard Burr won re-election to a...
, U.S. House elections
United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina, 2010
The 2010 congressional elections in North Carolina were held on November 2, 2010, to determine who would represent the state of North Carolina in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections, where needed, were held on May 4, and the second primaries, where needed, followed on June...
, and other state-level elections. North Carolina judicial elections are non-partisan. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. All incumbent judges and justices who sought re-election won their respective races, except for Judge Cressie Thigpen
Cressie Thigpen
Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr. is a North Carolina lawyer and jurist who was appointed to a seat on the North Carolina Court of Appeals in August 2010. Governor Bev Perdue appointed Thigpen to replace Judge James A. Wynn, who had been appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals...
of the Court of Appeals, who had been appointed shortly before the election and lost North Carolina's first statewide instant runoff.
Supreme Court
Incumbent Edward Thomas BradyEdward 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...
did not file to run for re-election. N.C. Court of Appeals Judges 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...
and Barbara Jackson
Barbara Jackson
Barbara Jackson is an American attorney and jurist who was elected in 2010 to an eight-year term on the North Carolina Supreme Court....
filed to run for the open seat.
| Candidate | Popular Vote | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Barbara Jackson | 1,044,952 | 51.87% |
| Robert C. Hunter | 969,738 | 48.13% |
Court of Appeals (Calabria seat)
Incumbent Ann Marie CalabriaAnn 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...
first announced that she would not seek re-election, but then reversed course and filed to run for another term. Judge Calabria had intended to run for re-election until her mother’s health declined. Then, her mother's health improved before the deadline to file as a candidate. Other candidates who filed for the seat included state District Court Judge Jane P. Gray
Jane P. Gray
Jane P. Gray is a North Carolina judge and candidate for the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 2010 election.Gray received a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Florida, and her J.D...
of Wake County and Superior Court Judge Mark E. Klass of Davidson County. Because more than two candidates filed for the seat, a primary election was held on May 4 to eliminate one candidate. Calabria won the primary with 37 percent, while Gray came in second with 36 percent of the vote. Klass, who took 26 percent, was eliminated. Calabria and Gray faced off in the general election.
| Candidate | Popular Vote | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Ann Marie Calabria | 1,048,260 | 53.66% |
| Jane Gray | 905,156 | 46.34% |
Court of Appeals (Elmore seat)
Incumbent Rick ElmoreRick 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...
filed to run for re-election. Attorney Leto Copeley of Orange County, law clerk and 2005 law school graduate Steven Walker, and attorney Alton D. (Al) Bain also filed. Because more than two candidates filed for the seat, a primary election was held on May 4. Walker was the highest vote getter in the primary with 38 percent, followed by Elmore with 28 percent. Copeley, with 18 percent, and Bain, with 14 percent, were eliminated from the race. Walker and Elmore faced off in the general election.
| Candidate | Popular Vote | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Rick Elmore | 956,946 | 53.76% |
| Steven Walker | 823,081 | 46.24% |
Court of Appeals (Geer seat)
Incumbent Martha A. GeerMartha A. Geer
Martha A. Geer is an American judge, currently serving as a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.Geer was born in Grinnell, Iowa and spent most of her childhood in Virginia, where her parents were teachers. Geer attended Bryn Mawr College and earned a degree in sociology before earning a...
was opposed by appeals referee and adjunct law instructor Dean R. Poirier.
| Candidate | Popular Vote | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Martha A. Geer | 1,123,138 | 59.86% |
| Dean R. Poirier | 753,226 | 40.14% |
Court of Appeals (Steelman seat)
Incumbent 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...
announced in 2009 that he would run for re-election to a second term. No candidates filed to oppose him.
| Candidate | Popular Vote | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Sanford Steelman | 1,405,847 | 100% |
Court of Appeals (Wynn seat)
When longtime Court of Appeals Judge James A. Wynn, Jr.James A. Wynn, Jr.
James Andrew Wynn, Jr. is an American jurist, currently a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and formerly on both the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court....
was appointed and confirmed as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, that triggered a special election for his seat. Under state law, because the vacancy in Wynn's seat occurred after the state's primary elections, the election employed instant runoff voting -- the first time such a mechanism had been used in a statewide election in North Carolina. Governor Perdue appointed Cressie Thigpen
Cressie Thigpen
Cressie H. Thigpen, Jr. is a North Carolina lawyer and jurist who was appointed to a seat on the North Carolina Court of Appeals in August 2010. Governor Bev Perdue appointed Thigpen to replace Judge James A. Wynn, who had been appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals...
to fill the seat through the election. Thigpen then filed to run for the full eight-year term, as did twelve other candidates, including attorneys Chris Dillon , Anne Middleton, John Sullivan and Pamela Vesper, all of Raleigh; attorney J. Wesley Casteen of Wilmington; attorney Daniel Garner of Wake Forest; attorneys John Bloss, Jewel Ann Farlow (a 2008
North Carolina judicial elections, 2008
One justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and six judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected to eight-year terms by North Carolina voters on November 4, 2008. This coincided with the presidential, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, gubernatorial, and Council of State elections.North...
candidate) and Stan Hammer, all of Greensboro; Superior Court Judge Mark E. Klass (who had previously run for the Calabria seat); former Court of Appeals Judge Douglas McCullough
Douglas McCullough
J. Douglas McCullough is an American lawyer and judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.-Education and career:After earning a history degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1967 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina in 1970, McCullough served...
; and former North Carolina Commissioner of Labor
North Carolina Commissioner of Labor
The Commissioner of Labor of North Carolina is the head of the state's Department of Labor.The Constitution of North Carolina provides for the election by the people every four years of a Commissioner of Labor whose term of office runs concurrently with that of the governor...
Harry Payne.
IRV First Round results
| Candidate | Popular Vote | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Cressie Thigpen | 395,341 | 20.32% |
| Doug McCullough | 295,758 | 15.2% |
| Chris Dillon | 202,164 | 10.39% |
| Anne Middleton | 174,673 | 8.98% |
| Daniel E. Garner | 154,163 | 7.92% |
| Jewel Ann Farlow | 152,150 | 7.82% |
| Harry E. Payne, Jr. | 99,322 | 5.11% |
| Stan Hammer | 96,604 | 4.97% |
| Mark E. Klass | 90,604 | 4.66% |
| Pamela M. Vesper | 90,180 | 4.64% |
| John F. Bloss | 78,920 | 4.06% |
| John Sullivan | 70,000 | 3.60% |
| J. Wesley Casteen | 45,639 | 2.35% |
IRV Second Round results
Cressie Thigpen and Doug McCullough collected the most first-choice votes, while no candidate received fifty percent plus one vote. Therefore, the two advanced to the instant runoff, where second and third choices would be tallied to determine the winner. The State Board of Elections announced on Nov. 3 that it would be "at least a month" before the results would be known. Unofficial results were released in December, showing McCullough winning by about 6,000 votes. Thigpen called for a recount. The recount showed a slightly changed vote total, but the ultimate result was the same, and Thigpen conceded defeat.| Candidate | Popular Vote | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Doug McCullough | 543,980 | 50.3% |
| Cressie Thigpen | 537,325 | 49.7% |
See also
- North Carolina elections, 2010
- United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2010United States Senate election in North Carolina, 2010The 2010 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 2, 2010. The filing deadline for the primaries was February 26; the primaries were held on May 4, with a Democratic primary runoff held on June 22. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Richard Burr won re-election to a...
- United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina, 2010United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina, 2010The 2010 congressional elections in North Carolina were held on November 2, 2010, to determine who would represent the state of North Carolina in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections, where needed, were held on May 4, and the second primaries, where needed, followed on June...
External links
- State Board of Elections: Voter Guides to the Statewide Judicial Elections
- North Carolina judicial elections, 2010 at JudgepediaJudgepediaJudgepedia is a wiki-style website billed as an "interactive encyclopedia of courts and judges".-Mission:The mission of Judgepedia is to help readers find useful information about the court system and judiciary in the United States.-History:...
- Federalist Society NC Appellate Judicial Candidate Forum Video