NCAJ PAC Endorses Candidates In Judicial Appellate Races

The NCAJ PAC Trustees have met to consider endorsements in statewide judicial races on the Nov. 8, 2022 ballot. The trustees represent a diverse group of NCAJ members in gender, race, age, practice location, practice area, section membership, and political affiliation.

Below, please find a list of endorsed candidates as well as a description of the process trustees used for decisions.

Judicial Endorsements

• Lucy Inman (NC Supreme Court, Seat 3)
• Sam J. Ervin IV (NC Supreme Court, Seat 5)
• Carolyn Jennings Thompson (NC Court of Appeals, Seat 8)
• Donna Stroud (NC Court of Appeals, Seat 9)
• Gale Murray Adams (NC Court of Appeals, Seat 10) 
• Darren Jackson (NC Court of Appeals, Seat 11)

The NCAJ PAC believes these candidates merit support in the upcoming election, and will be making further efforts to promote the endorsements and empower members to communicate with clients, friends and family in support of these endorsements. 

Decision Process

A PAC process was developed as part of the NCAJ Advocacy Strategic Plan (document is behind your NCAJ login) to provide a more defined structure for trustee decision making. Although trustees are strictly prohibited from discussing deliberations pursuant to confidentiality requirements contained in the PAC bylaws, the PAC is allowed to share that the following structural factors provided by the PAC process were considered:

• A written analysis of opinions by each candidate with an appellate record was performed and considered;
• All feedback submitted through the survey link made available to all NCAJ members, as well as any direct feedback from members to trustees via email or phone, was presented in written form and considered by trustees;
• Where possible, NCAJ members in a candidate’s district were interviewed in an effort to learn more about a candidate’s temperament, reputation, and standing in the local bar;
• All 12 judicial candidates were interviewed over two full days in July;
• Any material provided by the candidates themselves during the interviews was retained and considered during the PAC meeting;
• Publicly available information about candidates, including information candidates provided on their websites or public positions stated by candidates, was reviewed and considered;
• Trustees considered the candidates relative to alignment with NCAJ’s Advocacy Mission Statement;
• Trustees considered a candidate’s status as a former or current NCAJ member;
• Trustees considered candidate diversity;
• Trustees considered a candidate’s prior work experience as a practicing attorney and/or as judge at the District or Superior Court trial level.