Two justices of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and four judges of the fifteen-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 8, 2022, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. These elections were conducted on a partisan basis.

Primary elections were originally set to be held on March 8, 2022, but were delayed by order of the state Supreme Court, and then rescheduled for May 17, 2022. Candidate filing began on December 6, 2021, but was suspended by the court's order.WRAL.com: NC Supreme Court order delays primaries until May Filing later resumed, and ended on March 4, 2022.

Republicans won both seats on the Supreme Court flipping them from Democratic control and giving themselves a 5–2 majority. They also won all four races for the Court of Appeals flipping two from Democratic control and holding the two others.

Supreme Court seat 3

This seat was held by Associate Justice Robin Hudson, a Democrat, who had held the seat since 2007. There was some speculation that Hudson would choose to not run for re-election, due to the fact that she was nearing the mandatory retirement age of 72. Hudson's mandatory retirement would be February 29, 2024. If she were re-elected to another term, she would only be able to serve a little over 13 months of her eight-year term.

On December 1, 2021, Hudson announced that she would not be seeking re-election. Court of Appeals Judge Lucy Inman ran for this seat.

Democratic primary Nominee Lucy Inman, Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, candidate for Supreme Court in 2020

Declined Robin Hudson, incumbent Associate Justice

Republican primary Nominee Richard Dietz, Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals

General election Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error LucyInman (D) RichardDietz (R) UndecidedCygnal (R)Cygnal (R)October 20–22, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%42%49%9%SurveyUSASurveyUSASeptember 28 – October 2, 2022677 (LV)± 4.4%32%37%31%Cygnal (R)Cygnal (R)September 24–26, 2022650 (LV)± 3.75%41%45%15%Cygnal (R)Cygnal (R)August 13–15, 2022615 (LV)± 3.9%39%45%15%Cygnal (R)Cygnal (R)June 17–19, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%38%49%13%Cygnal (R)Cygnal (R)May 21–22, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%40%44%16%Meeting Street Insights (R)May 12–16, 2022500 (LV)± 4.4%39%45%15%

Results

Supreme Court seat 5

This seat was held by Associate Justice Sam Ervin IV, a Democrat, who had held the seat since 2015. Ervin ran for re-election to a second term.

Democratic primary Nominee Sam Ervin IV, incumbent Associate Justice

Republican primary Nominee Trey Allen, general counsel for the North Carolina Administration of Courts, professor at UNC-Chapel Hill

Eliminated in primary Victoria E. Prince, family law attorney April C. Wood, Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals

Endorsements

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error TreyAllen VictoriaPrince AprilWood UndecidedAtlantic Polling Strategies (R)Atlantic Polling Strategies (R)April 25–28, 2022534 (LV)± 4.9%18%4%10%68%Cygnal (R)Cygnal (R)April 1–3, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%10%2%7%82%Vitale & Associates (R)Vitale & Associates (R)March 22–23, 2022504 (LV)± 4.4%6%3%8%82%

Results

General election Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error SamErvin IV (D) TreyAllen (R) UndecidedCygnal (R)October 20–22, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%42%49%9%SurveyUSASeptember 28 – October 2, 2022677 (LV)± 4.4%37%39%24%Cygnal (R)September 24–26, 2022650 (LV)± 3.75%39%46%15%Cygnal (R)August 13–15, 2022615 (LV)± 3.9%40%45%15%Cygnal (R)June 17–19, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%39%49%12%Cygnal (R)May 21–22, 2022600 (LV)± 4.0%40%46%14%Meeting Street Insights (R)May 12–16, 2022500 (LV)± 4.4%42%46%12%

Results

Court of Appeals seat 8 (Inman seat)

Lucy Inman, a Democrat, was elected to this seat in 2014. Inman ran for a seat on the Supreme Court in 2022 rather than seek reelection.

Democratic primary As only one Democrat filed to run for this seat, a primary was not held.

Nominee Carolyn Jennings Thompson, former District Court and former Superior Court judgeAbout Carolyn

Declined Lucy Inman, Court of Appeals Judge (2015–present) and candidate for Supreme Court in 2020

Republican primary As only one Republican filed to run for this seat, a primary was not held.

Nominee Julee Tate Flood

General election

Results

Court of Appeals seat 9 (Stroud seat)

Donna Stroud, a Republican, was first elected to the Court of Appeals in 2006 and subsequently re-elected. She was appointed to the position of Chief Judge by then-Chief Justice Cheri Beasley and assumed that role on January 1, 2021. Stroud ran for re-election.

Democratic primary As only one Democrat filed to run for this seat, a primary was not held.

Nominee Brad A. Salmon, District Court Judge and former state representative (2015–2016)Governor Cooper Appoints Brad Salmon as District Court Judge

Republican primary

Nominee Donna Stroud, Court of Appeals Judge (2007–present) (Chief Judge 2021–present)

Eliminated in primary Beth Freshwater Smith, District Court Judge

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error BethFreshwater-Smith DonnaStroud UndecidedVitale & Associates (R)March 22–23, 2022504 (LV)± 4.4%4%8%87%

Endorsements

Results

General election

Results

Court of Appeals seat 10 (Tyson seat)

John Tyson, a Republican, was elected to this seat in 2014 after previously serving on the court from 2001 to 2009. Tyson ran for re-election.

Democratic primary As only one Democrat filed to run for this seat, a primary was not held.

Nominee Gale Murray Adams, Cumberland County Superior Court JudgeFayetteville Observer

Republican primary As only one Republican filed to run for this seat, a primary was not held.

Nominee John Tyson, Court of Appeals Judge (2001–2009; 2015–2021)

General election

Results

Court of Appeals seat 11 (Jackson seat)

Darren Jackson, a Democrat, was appointed to this seat by Governor Roy Cooper in 2020, to fill the vacancy created by Phil Berger Jr.'s election to the Supreme Court. Jackson ran for election to a full term.

Democratic primary As only one Democrat filed to run for this seat, a primary was not held.

Nominee Darren Jackson, Court of Appeals Judge (2021–present), former state representative (2009–2020), former minority leader of the North Carolina House of Representatives (2017–2020)

Republican primary

Nominee Michael J. Stading, Air Force JAG (judge advocate) and former prosecutor

Eliminated in primary Charlton L. Allen, former member of the North Carolina Industrial Commission and former chair of Iredell County Republican PartyGov. McCrory's appointment, Charlton Allen has a racially dubious past

Results

General election

Results

Aftermath The new Republican majority court ruled on April 28, 2023 that partisan gerrymandering was not a judicial issue. As a result, North Carolina Republicans made a new map that took the split 7-7 delegation and turned it into a 10-4 Republican delegation. Because Republicans only won the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections by 3 seats, the restricting was seen as crucial to Republicans holding their majority. Additionally, the courts also upheld the photo ID law that they had struck down before the elections. Notes

Partisan clients

References

External links Official campaign websites for Supreme Court candidates Seat 3 Richard Dietz (R) Lucy Inman (D) Seat 5 Trey Allen (R) Sam Ervin IV (D) April C. Wood (R) Official campaign websites for Court of Appeals candidates Seat 8

Carolyn Thompson (D) Seat 9 Beth Freshwater-Smith (R) Brad Salmon (D) Donna Stroud (R) Seat 10 Gale Adams (D) John Tyson (R) Seat 11 Charlton Allen (R) Darren Jackson (D) Michael Stading (R)