I got the chance to join the Hornet's Nest Republican Men's Club for Judicialpalooza last week. Which is a fantastic name for an event, by the way.
It was a powerhouse crowd, with multiple Court of Appeals judges on hand, plus several candidates who want to join them next year.
The U.S. Senate race is going to suck up all the oxygen, but the stakes in the 2026 judicial elections are pretty high, too. Democrats will make a hard run to re-elect Justice Anita Earls, and if they do, they could flip the N.C. Supreme Court by winning two of three seats in 2028.
Fallout from the Jefferson Griffin challenge notwithstanding, my read is that Rep. Sarah Stevens still has better-than-even odds to beat Earls, even at a steep money disadvantage.
Court of Appeals Judge Michael Stading put his finger on it at the event. Stading described how he talks to unaffiliated voters, and even some Democrats, when he's campaigning. He simply asks: What do you want out of a judge?
"If they're honest, they'll say, 'I want a judge who will follow the law,'" Stading said.
It shouldn't be this way, but that simple statement is very Republican-coded in this era. The conservative view of the judiciary -- interpret the law, don't write it -- is broadly popular. Out of all the justices on the North Carolina Supreme Court, it also fits Earls the least.
You can see it in the results: Since judicial races became partisan again in 2018, Republicans have won 19 of 26 statewide contests, sweeping all three in 2020 and all six in 2022 to build a 5-2 Supreme Court majority. The Riggs/Griffin race broke a 12-straight streak, but the overall pattern still holds.
That message travels from Raleigh to the courthouse down the street.
Yes, appellate seats are critical -- but metro-area Superior and District Court races are just as important. In Mecklenburg County, Republicans didn't even field district court candidates in 2024.
Still, Judge Matt Osman won an eight-year Superior Court term in 2022, and Paulina Havelka came within about 1,000 votes. There's a lane when the pitch is simple and credible: law first, politics second.
Charlotte was reminded of those stakes in the worst way. In my column this week, I wrote about Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old who fled Ukraine and was killed on our light rail.
Public safety has to involve serious judges in local office. That's the case for Republican judges right now: keep their oath, protect the innocent, and treat every life as non-negotiable.
Read the column here (no paywall with this gift link): Killing on the light rail should jolt Charlotte awake
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