Announcing the 2026 NC Judicial Slate!
2026 Candidate Filing is Closed - These Are Your State-Wide Judicial Candidates.
It’s official, candidate filing for the 2026 election cycle is closed in North Carolina. That means we’re ready to announce our 2026 NC Judicial Slate!
BLUF: Please support this slate of rockstar candidates: 2026 NC Judicial Slate.
There are great candidates up and down the ballot, but as promised, we’re focusing on the North Carolina courts for 2026. North Carolina will have four state-wide judicial races in 2026. There is one seat on the ballot for the North Carolina Supreme Court, and there are three seats on the ballot for the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
As of now, Republicans hold a majority on both of these courts. On the Supreme Court, Republicans hold a 5-2 majority. On the Court of Appeals, Republicans hold a 12-3 majority. It’s a long game, but here’s the plan for restoring Democratic majorities on both courts.
For the Supreme Court, it started with re-electing Justice Allison Riggs in 2024. We’ll look back at that election--and the insane post-election legal drama--in the coming months. In 2026, we must re-elect Justice Anita Earls. And in 2028, we must flip at least two of the three Republican-held seats that will be on the ballot. If we flip all three, that takes Democrats to a 5-2 majority.
For the North Carolina Court of Appeals, we need to hold all three Democratic-held seats in 2026. That means re-electing Judges John Arrowood and Toby Hampson and holding the open seat currently held by Democrat Allegra Collins. Then, in 2028, we need to flip all five seats that will be on the ballot. That gets us to a 8-7 Democratic majority on the Court of Appeals.
Make no mistake, it’s a tall order. But we can do it. Justice Riggs won a nail-biter of an election in the same year President Trump won the state by 3 points. There is a path to victory with smart campaigns focused on the right issues. But they’ll also need all the support we can muster.
So, who are we going to see on the 2026 North Carolina ballot? In short, these are the five names to watch:
Supreme Court:
Justice Anita Earls (incumbent)
Court of Appeals:
Judge John Arrowood (incumbent)
Judge Toby Hampson (incumbent)
Primary Candidates (Open Seat): Christine Walczyk and James Whalen
Which means here’s your 2026 NC Judicial Slate! We’ll add the winner of the primary between Christine Walczyk and James Whalen to the slate in March.
Here are some more details on the races. The Supreme Court seat will see two candidates head to the general election: Justice Anita Earls, Democrat, running for re-election; and Representative Sarah Stevens, Republican, looking to make the jump from the state house to the Supreme Court.
For the Court of Appeals, there will be three seats on the ballot. Judges John Arrowood and Toby Hampson are up for re-election and have no primary challengers. Judge Arrowood will face the winner of a Republican primary, and Judge Hampson will face Republican George Bell.
The third seat on the ballot is currently held by Democrat Allegra Collins who is not running for re-election. Democrats Christine Walczyk and James Whalen will head to a primary, and the winner will face Republican Craig Collins.
At least for now, we have made the decision to support the three incumbent, state-wide judicial candidates running for re-election through the 2026 NC Judicial Slate as they do not face a primary. And of course, we will add the winner of the Democratic primary for the third Court of Appeals seat to the slate in March.
Again, please support our rockstar Democratic judicial candidates: 2026 NC Judicial Slate.