2002 North Carolina judicial elections

Several justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court and judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected to eight-year terms by North Carolina voters on November 5, 2002. Party primary elections were held on Sept. 10. This was the last year in which statewide judicial elections were partisan.

The result of the election was that all incumbent Democrats went down to defeat, and only one Democrat won a seat that was open (i.e. the incumbent chose not to run for another term).

Supreme Court (Butterfield seat)

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Incumbent G. K. Butterfield, a Democrat, had been appointed by Gov. Mike Easley and faced election for the first time. He was defeated by attorney Edward Thomas Brady, a Republican.

In the Republican primary, Brady had defeated Judge Ralph A. Walker.

2002 NC Supreme Court general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic G. K. Butterfield 992,603 46.12
Republican Edward Thomas Brady 1,159,476 53.87

Supreme Court (Orr seat)

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Incumbent Robert F. Orr, a Republican, defeated North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Robert C. Hunter, a Democrat.

In the Democratic primary, Hunter had defeated attorney Bradley K. Greenway.

2002 NC Supreme Court general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Robert C. Hunter 987,447 45.35
Republican Robert F. Orr 1,189,751 54.65

Court of Appeals (Biggs seat)

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Incumbent Loretta Copeland Biggs, a Democrat, was narrowly defeated by Sanford L. Steelman, Jr., a Republican. There were no primaries.

2002 NC Court of Appeals general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Loretta Copeland Biggs 1,046,689 49.14
Republican Sanford L. Steelman, Jr. 1,083,194 50.86

Court of Appeals (Bryant seat)

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Incumbent Wanda G. Bryant, a Democrat, was defeated by District Court Judge Ann Marie Calabria, a Republican.

In the Republican primary, Calabria had defeated Nathanael K. (Nate) Pendley.

2002 NC Court of Appeals general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Wanda G. Bryant 1,020,286 47.93
Republican Ann Marie Calabria 1,108,615 52.07

Court of Appeals (Campbell seat)

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Incumbent Hugh Brown Campbell, Jr., a Democrat, was defeated by District Court Judge Eric Levinson, a Republican.

In the Republican primary, Levinson had defeated Lorrie L. Dollar.

2002 NC Court of Appeals general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Hugh Brown Campbell, Jr. 1,046,594 49.0
Republican Eric Levinson 1,089,728 51.0

Court of Appeals (Thomas seat)

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In the open-seat contest, Martha Geer, a Democrat, narrowly defeated Bill Constangy, a Republican.

In the Democratic primary, Geer had defeated Marcus W. Williams.

2002 NC Court of Appeals general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Martha Geer 1,073,423 50.35
Republican Bill Constangy 1,058,485 49.65

Court of Appeals (Walker seat)

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In the open-seat contest, Rick Elmore, a Republican, defeated George R. Barrett, a Democrat.

In the Democratic primary, Barrett had defeated Beecher Reynolds Gray. In the Republican primary, Elmore had defeated Fritz Mercer.

2002 NC Court of Appeals general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic George R. Barrett 1,022,078 47.95
Republican Rick Elmore 1,109,317 52.05

References

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