Nickname stirs ballot brouhaha

Rachel Lea Hunter is running for the state's highest court. And Hunter, who has never been a judge, has an aspirational nickname she wants to appear on the ballot: "Madame Justice."

Hunter, a Cary lawyer, filed Friday to run in a nonpartisan race against Associate Justice Mark Martin, who has been a judge since 1992 and on the Supreme Court since 1999.

She says she began using the nickname in 1998, which would comply with the five-year requirement to use it on the ballot. She signed an affidavit for state elections officials attesting to that fact.

"I can't imagine them letting her put it on the ballot," said Wilton "Rusty" Duke, a Pitt County Superior Court judge running for chief justice. He also signed an affidavit to have his nickname appear on the ballot -- a nickname that Duke says he has had "since about four hours after I was born."

Johnnie F. McLean, deputy director of the State Board of Elections, said Friday that she has never seen a candidate seek to use a nickname that referred to the office she wants.

Hunter joins the likes of other state candidates who have used their nicknames: Joe "Coach" White, Leonard "Preacher Man" Harris, Ken "Stump Grinder" Dennis and Jeff "Radio Man" Wilson. Of course, Wake County's perennial candidate, Joe "Uncle Sam" Overby, dressed the part at parades and public functions.

Hunter's nickname news caught Martin off guard Friday night. "I've never heard of anyone running for any office using this type of tactic," Martin said. "This designation is not really a valid nickname."

Martin couldn't say whether he will file a complaint with election officials.

Hunter was among eight candidates who ran for an open seat on the state Supreme Court in 2004. She came in third, but her campaign was marked by public tiffs with Republican party leaders. Afterward, she switched to the Democratic Party and has been bashing the Bush administration and the state GOP on her Web site.

Hunter said she worked as a law clerk on a Pennsylvania appeals court when a justice there called herself, "Madame Justice."

Hunter says that in 1998, she began using the name herself in her e-mail messages. When she ran for the N.C. Supreme Court in 2004, she ran a feature on her campaign Web site, called "Ask Madame Justice," where the public could submit their questions. The feature appears on her current campaign Web site.

However, when Hunter ran in 2004, she didn't use the nickname. "I didn't think of that in 2004," she said. "I've decided to use it now."