Three justices of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and five judges of the 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 3, 2020, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. These elections were conducted on a partisan basis.

Incumbent Court of Appeals Judges Linda McGee and Wanda Bryant (both Democrats) did not reopen their campaign accounts with the State Board of Elections, indicating they would not run for re-election,[1] and they did not file for re-election by the time filing closed on Dec. 20, 2019.[2]

Only one candidate from each party filed for each seat, meaning that no party primary elections would be necessary.

In the general election, Republican candidates won all of the races.[3] The results of the Chief Justice race were only confirmed after a lengthy recount process, because of the narrow margin.[4][5]

Supreme Court

Chief Justice (Beasley seat)

Chief Justice Mark Martin, a Republican, announced his resignation in 2019, triggering an election for his seat in 2020. Governor Roy Cooper appointed Associate Justice Cheri Beasley, a Democrat, to become Chief Justice through 2020.[6]

Candidates

Declared

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Cheri
Beasley (D)		 Paul
Newby (R)		 Undecided
Cardinal Point Analytics (R) October 27–28, 2020 750 (LV) ± 3.6% 45% 44% 11%
Meeting Street Insights (R) Archived 2020-10-31 at the Wayback Machine October 24–27, 2020 600 (LV) ± 4% 49% 44% 4%
Harper Polling/Civitas (R) October 22–25, 2020 504 (LV) ± 4.4% 49% 40% 11%
Harper Polling/Civitas (R) September 17–20, 2020 612 (LV) ± 3.96% 44% 38% 18%
Hypothetical polling
with Generic Democrat and Generic Republican
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Generic
Democrat		 Generic
Republican		 Other/Undecided
Harper Polling/Civitas (R) September 17–20, 2020 612 (LV) ± 3.96% 43% 43% 14%[lower-alpha 2]
Harper Polling/Civitas (R) August 6–10, 2020 600 (LV) ± 4% 38% 40% ~22%-23%[lower-alpha 3]
Harper Polling/Civitas (R) Archived 2020-04-23 at the Wayback Machine April 5–7, 2020 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 39% 36% 25%[lower-alpha 4]
Harper Polling/Civitas (R) Archived 2020-04-23 at the Wayback Machine Released March 17, 2019 –[lower-alpha 5] – 36% 34% 30%[lower-alpha 6]

Results

Results by county:
  Beasley—80–90%
  Beasley—70–80%
  Beasley—60–70%
  Beasley—50–60%
  Newby—70–80%
  Newby—60–70%
  Newby—50–60%
North Carolina State Supreme Court Chief Justice seat election, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Martin Newby 2,695,951 50.004%
Democratic Cheri Beasley (incumbent) 2,695,550 49.996%
Total votes 5,391,501 100.0%
Republican gain from Democratic

Beasley requested a recount on Nov. 17, 2020.[10] After the recount found the margin between the candidates to be 401 votes, Beasley called for a second recount in a sampling of precincts statewide, as allowed by law.[11] Beasley then conceded the election to Newby on Dec. 12.[12]

Seat 2 (Newby seat)

The seat then held by Associate Justice Paul Martin Newby was up for election in 2020. Newby announced that he would run for Chief Justice instead, leaving his Associate Justice seat open.[8]

Candidates

Declared
  • Phil Berger Jr. (Republican), incumbent judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals[13]
  • Lucy Inman (Democratic), incumbent judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals[14]

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Phil
Berger Jr. (R)		 Lucy
Inman (D)		 Undecided
Meeting Street Insights (R) Archived 2020-10-31 at the Wayback Machine October 24–27, 2020 600 (LV) ± 4% 43% 47% 7%

Results

North Carolina State Supreme Court Seat 2 election, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Phil Berger Jr. 2,723,704 50.67%
Democratic Lucy Inman 2,652,187 49.33%
Total votes 5,375,891 100.0%
Republican hold

Seat 4 (Davis seat)

Beasley's elevation to the position of Chief Justice made her Associate Justice seat vacant, which also triggered a 2020 election. Governor Cooper appointed Court of Appeals Judge Mark A. Davis to fill the vacancy as an associate justice.[15]

Candidates

Declared

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Mark A.
Davis (D)		 Tamara P.
Barringer (R)		 Undecided
Meeting Street Insights (R) Archived 2020-10-31 at the Wayback Machine October 24–27, 2020 600 (LV) ± 4% 50% 42% 6%

Results

North Carolina State Supreme Court Seat 4 election, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tamara P. Barringer 2,746,362 51.21%
Democratic Mark A. Davis (incumbent) 2,616,265 48.79%
Total votes 5,362,627 100.0%
Republican gain from Democratic

Court of Appeals

Seat 4

Candidates

Declared

Results

North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 4 election, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican April C. Wood 2,767,469 51.78%
Democratic Tricia Shields 2,577,013 48.22%
Total votes 5,344,482 100.00%

Seat 5

Candidates

Declared

Results

North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 5 election, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Fred Gore 2,735,952 51.27%
Democratic Lora Christine Cubbage 2,600,632 48.73%
Total votes 5,336,584 100.00%

Seat 6

Candidates

Declared
  • Chris Dillon (Republican), incumbent Court of Appeals Judge
  • Gray Styers (Democrat), attorney[1]

Results

North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 6 election, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Chris Dillon (incumbent) 2,769,020 51.95%
Democratic Gray Styers 2,561,090 48.05%
Total votes 5,330,110 100.00%

Seat 7

Judge Reuben Young, a Democrat, was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to fill a vacancy, through the end of 2020, and was eligible to run for a full term.

Candidates

Declared

Results

North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 7 election, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Carpenter 2,747,109 51.59%
Democratic Reuben Young (incumbent) 2,578,035 48.41%
Total votes 5,325,144 100.00%

Seat 13

Judge Christopher Brook, a Democrat, was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to fill a vacancy, through the end of 2020, and was eligible to run for a full term.

Candidates

Declared

Results

North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 13 election, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jefferson G. Griffin 2,720,503 51.16%
Democratic Christopher Brook (incumbent) 2,597,573 48.84%
Total votes 5,318,076 100.00%

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. ↑ "Neither" with 1%; "Other" with 0%; Undecided with 13%
  3. ↑ Undecided with 21%; "Neither" with 1%; "Other Party" with <1%
  4. ↑ Undecided with 20%; "Neither/other/independent" with 5%
  5. ↑ Not yet released
  6. ↑ Undecided with 20%; "Neither/other/independent" with 10%

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 News & Observer
  2. 1 2 3 4 State Board of Elections: State candidate list by county
  3. ↑ "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  4. ↑ "§ 163-182.7. Ordering recounts". www.ncleg.gov. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ Battaglia, Danielle (November 13, 2020). "NC chief justice candidates swap leads back and forth as vote counting continues". The News & Observer. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Cheri Beasley Announced as First Black Female Chief Justice in NC History". Spectrum News. February 12, 2019.
  7. ↑ Bonner, Lynn; Thompson, Elizabeth (March 10, 2019). "Who's running in North Carolina's 2020 statewide races?". The News & Observer.
  8. 1 2 "Newby to seek Chief Justice seat in 2020". North State Journal. January 25, 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov.
  10. ↑ ABC 11/WTVD
  11. ↑ Cheri Beasley on Twitter
  12. ↑ ABC11/WTVD: Paul Newby wins North Carolina Supreme Court race as incumbent Cheri Beasley concedes
  13. ↑ Doran, Will (January 28, 2019). "Phil Berger Jr., son of powerful Republican lawmaker, wants seat on NC Supreme Court". The News & Observer. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  14. ↑ Doran, Will (January 30, 2019). "Democratic judge Lucy Inman announces 2020 campaign for NC Supreme Court seat". The News & Observer. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Gov. Cooper Names Supreme Court Associate Justice". North Carolina Governor. March 11, 2019.
  16. ↑ Doran, Will (February 5, 2019). "Former state senator Tamara Barringer of Cary to seek NC Supreme Court seat". The News & Observer. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Cooper elevates Court of Appeals judge to Supreme Court". WCTI 12. Associated Press. March 11, 2019.
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