Endorsements: Our choices for N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges

We don’t like that North Carolina’s judicial races are partisan. It leads to candidates being evaluated more on the “D” or “R” after their names than their experience or approach to cases.

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It also leads to cynicism: voters believe that in some high-profile cases, judges will rule with those in their party, then find legal reasons to justify that partisan behavior. Because of that, a judge’s party becomes an even bigger factor when considering how to vote.

We hope voters consider other factors in judicial races, especially relevant experience, but we also believe any elected body should have a diversity and balance of thought.

Our recommendations for contested judicial races on the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals:

There may be no judicial race on North Carolina ballots with as large a gap in experience than this one pitting Democratic incumbent Anita Earls against Republican Sarah Stevens.

Earls, who has been an associate justice on the Supreme Court since 2019, was a respected civil rights litigator who was appointed deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in 1998. She later directed the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C., before returning to North Carolina to join the Center for Civil Rights at the UNC School of Law.

Stevens was a Republican member of the N.C. House from 2009 to 2026, and she has served as president of the Surry County Bar Association.

Earls is an exceptionally thoughtful jurist whose decisions and approach are deeply ground in the constitution. Any voter who doubts the latter should read her powerful dissent in Jefferson Griffin v. North Carolina Board of Elections, in which Griffin attempted to nullify votes in the NC Supreme Court race after the 2024 election. In that dissent, Earls blisters her colleagues’ decision to allow Griffin, a fellow Republican, to challenge certain military and overseas-citizen voters who used absentee ballots. A Republican federal judge later rejected Griffin’s efforts.

This race offers a clear choice for voters willing to look beyond party. We strongly recommend Earls.

There are three races on the ballot for the state’s Court of Appeals, where Republicans hold 12 of the 15 seats. That’s an imbalance voters should consider.

Seat 1: Voters face a difficult decision in this race between incumbent Democrat John Arrowood and Republican administrative law judge Michael Byrne.

Byrne is a longtime attorney who specialized in cases involving N.C. law enforcement and other state employees before becoming an administrative law judge in 2020. He has more than 300 decisions since, including nine that have gone before the Court of Appeals and been upheld. As we noted when endorsing Byrne in the Republican primary, that perfect record speaks to his reputation for thoroughness and fairness behind the bench.

Arrowood has served on the Court of Appeals since 2017, and he believes that experience is especially important now given that the court has several newer members and a resulting backlog of cases. “The way we decide cases has slowed down considerably,” he told the Observer’s editorial board. Arrowood also brings diverse experience to the court, including service as an attorney, special Superior Court judge, and on the N.C. banking and N.C. Rules Review commissions.

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While Arrowood, like Byrne, believes in protecting constitutional rights, he says he doesn’t believe the court’s role is to rubber stamp legislation. “It’s to be a check on the legislative and executive branch,” he said.

We agree. There is no bad choice in this race, but we give Arrowood a slight nod.

Seat 2: Incumbent Democrat Toby Hampson faces Republican George Bell, who has served as a Superior Court judge in Mecklenburg County since 2019.

Before joining the Superior Court, Bell practiced civil and criminal law, which he says prepares him well for the Court of Appeals. We’re troubled that Bell was reprimanded by the North Carolina State Bar in 2019 after making a false statement to the court regarding a client’s probation, but he has not faced other disciplinary action.

Hampson has a reputation as a fair, precise judge whose rulings are often unanimous and bipartisan. Hampson also brings a depth and diversity of experience, including clerking for three Court of Appeals judges and 16 years as a lawyer in the Court of Appeals. “I’ve probably handled every kind of case the court hears,” he told the editorial board.

We recommend Hampson.

Seat 3: Voters face a clear choice in this race between Superior Court Judge Craig Collins, a Republican, and District Court Judge Christine Walczyk, a Democrat.

Each candidate would bring significant experience to the seat. Collins has served as a District Court judge and, since 2024, a Superior Court judge. He also is a former Gaston County assistant district attorney who prosecuted thousands of criminal cases. Walczyk has served 19 years as a District Court judge, hearing the kinds of cases that appear before appellate courts. She’s served as lead judge in family and civil courts, roles for which she was nominated by Democrat and Republican chief District Court judges.

Each candidate emphasizes that there is no place for politics in their decisions and courtrooms. “I believe the constitution means what it says,” Collins told the Observer editorial board. Says Walczyk: “I don’t believe the Constitution should be amended by judges.”

Walczyk also says: “I think we need judges that have the courage to uphold those words. We do have a role in keeping those other two branches in check.” We agree.

A notable distinction: The winner fills the seat vacated by Democrat Allegra Collins, potentially leaving the court without a woman among its 15 justices. We think that’s meaningful, and Walczyk has been an active advocate for women in the judiciary and legal community.

We recommend Walczyk.

Members of the combined Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer editorial boards are conducting interviews and research of candidates in municipal and state elections. The combined board is led by N.C. Opinion Editor Peter St. Onge, who is joined in Charlotte by deputy Opinion editor Paige Masten. Board members also include Observer editor Matt Leclercq and News & Observer editor Nicole Stockdale. 

The editorial board also talks with others who know the candidates and have worked with them. When we’ve completed our interviews and research, we discuss each race and decide on our endorsements. 

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This story was originally published October 15, 2026 at 5:00 AM.