North Carolina judicial election, 2002

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

• State Board of Elections - 2002 General Election Results
• State Board of Elections - 2002 Primary Election Results