Democrat and Republican
Because incumbent Lorrin Freeman is running for Wake County District Attorney, the clerkship is an open seat. Clerk of Superior Court is ostensibly a nonpartisan position, involving the keeping of court records, administrative and clerical duties and disbursement of money collected in court fines, but given North Carolina’s love for electing every office, there is a primary election for the position nonetheless.
We think you can’t go wrong with either of the two Democrats running for Wake County Clerk of Superior Court, but we had to decide, so we endorse Sam Bridges, a criminal defense attorney and 23-year veteran of the Wake County court system. Bridges also served as mayor of Garner for two terms, experience which he says he expects will help foster “an atmosphere of bipartisan cooperation among all the stakeholders in the courthouse.”
The other Democrat is Blair Williams, also an attorney and current assistant in the Wake County Clerk of Court’s office. Williams is an advocate for more diversity in the “courthouse family” and emphasizes hiring multi-lingual applicants to court positions, to ensure equal access to the justice system.
Of the three Republicans running for the seat, Jennifer Knox is the strongest candidate and we endorse her. A Wake County District Court Judge for the past 10 years, Knox says she knows well how the clerk’s office works, and she emphasizes the need to update technology in the court system.
Neither of the other two RepublicansJoe Teague and Barbara Mooreare lawyers, a point that Knox drives home. “This is not a job for someone with little to no legal experience. It is too important for the citizens of Wake County,” she wrote.
We agree.
