When voters enter their polling place Tuesday, they will be met with the usual array of partisan races.
Stuffed toward the end of the ballot, however, are a pair of nonpartisan elections for the N.C. Supreme Court. In these races, candidates are not listed by party preference, making it important that voters make decisions ahead of time.
The first seat is held by incumbent Sarah Parker, who earned her juris doctorate from UNC-Chapel Hill and served as a judge for almost 20 years. She was elected to the state Supreme Court in 1992.
Running against Parker is John Tyson, a judge on the N.C. Court of Appeals. According to his Web site, Parker supports the death penalty and is against abortion and same-sex marriages.
The second seat was held by Associate Justice Robert Orr, who stepped down last month. Eight candidates are vying for his spot:
- Ronnie Ansley, an alumnus of N.C. State University and the Mississippi College School of Law, said in his mission statement that he is uniquely qualified to serve because of his varied work experience, which ranges from private law practice to serving as a sales representative for a feed and grain company.
- Rachel Lea Hunter is an attorney for a pre-paid legal service. According to Hunter's Web site, her top three priorities are a strict interpretation of the law, an opposition to public funding of judicial elections and increasing conservative representation on college campuses.
- Howard Manning now serves on the N.C. Superior Court. Manning asked not to be endorsed by any party, saying that it undermines the judicial process. He recently ruled that the state is underfunding its poor school districts and demanded that the General Assembly provide the necessary money.
- Betsy McCrodden has served as a judge on the N.C. Court of Appeals and an assistant attorney general. "The only agenda a judge should bring to the bench is an undiminished dedication to the integrity of the judicial process," she states on her Web site.
