Judicial contests are seeing a renewed spotlight. With drama from the 2024 Supreme Court election and a contentious round of congressional redistricting this year, the races will likely have sizable investments from state parties and partisan advocacy groups. 

Four statewide seats are up for grabs in 2026, including a consequential state Supreme Court contest and three Court of Appeals races.

Voters heading to the polls for the March 3 primary will have a choice to make in two contested appellate court primaries: one Republican and one Democratic.

Then, on November 3, voters will make their final choices across all four races.  

NC Supreme Court

Democratic Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls is running unopposed in the primary, as is her Republican challenger, state Rep. Sarah Stevens.

Earls has been on the state’s high court since 2019, where she has often opposed voting maps that the Republican-controlled General Assembly put forward. She’s also outspoken on social issues, calling for changes to the criminal justice system to ensure racial equity and criticizing Border Patrol operations in the state. Before joining the court, she served as executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

Stevens has served in the North Carolina House since 2009, including in top GOP leadership as the second-highest ranking member from 2017 to 2025. The Mount Airy native has been a licensed attorney specializing in family law in North Carolina since 1986. Today, she chairs  judiciary and election law committees. Stevens, a breast cancer survivor, has also backed efforts to expand health insurance coverage for breast cancer detection. 

The two will go head-to-head in November. Depending on the outcome, that race could maintain the current balance of the bench or give Republicans a sixth seat on the seven-member court.

Court of Appeals Judge Seat 1

Democratic Court of Appeals Judge John Arrowood is seeking reelection for the statewide judicial post. He was appointed to the seat in 2007, but lost a bid for a full eight-year term the following year. He was appointed back onto the appellate court in 2017 and won the seat in 2018, becoming the first openly gay person to win a statewide contest in North Carolina. He faces no primary challengers.

Meanwhile, two Republicans are running to oust him: Superior Court Judge Matt Smith and Administrative Law Judge Michael Byrne. The winner will face Arrowood in November.

Smith is a Union County native who earned his law degree from Campbell University in 2002. He then practiced law for 18 years as a trial attorney before winning a district court seat in 2020 and superior court contest in 2022.

Byrne grew up in Wake County and also got his law degree from Campbell and became an administrative law judge in 2020.

Court of Appeals Judge Seat 2

Democratic Court of Appeals Judge Toby Hampson is running for reelection. He was notably part of a three-judge panel that heard a dispute over the 2024 Supreme Court election between Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs and GOP challenger Jefferson Griffin, a fellow Court of Appeals judge. Hampson dissented from the Republican majority that accepted Griffin’s claims. Before joining the appeals court in 2019, he clerked for three Court of Appeals Judges and entered private practice with a Raleigh law firm. He faces no Democratic challengers.

Republican George Cooper Bell is Hampson’s lone challenger in the general election. He was elected as a judge to the Mecklenburg County Superior Court in 2018. 

Court of Appeals Judge Seat 3

Two Democrats are vying for the seat currently held by Democratic Court of Appeals Judge Allegra Collins: James Whalen and Christine Walczyk. 

Walczyk has served as district court trial judge in Wake County for 18 years. Prior to that, she practiced law in Raleigh alongside now-state Sen. Lisa Grafstein.

Whalen is an appellate attorney in private practice at Brooks Pierce, LLP who helped defend Riggs’ state Supreme Court victory. 
On the Republican side, Craig Collins faces no primary challengers. Collins owned his own law firm from 2007 to 2016 before being appointed to a district court seat. He ran unopposed in 2024 for a superior court seat in Gaston County. Collins has long been involved in GOP politics, including an unsuccessful run in 2015 state party chairman.

Early voting ahead of the primary begins February 12 and primary Election Day is March 3.

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