Two challenges, two incumbents leading for appeals seats

Early results in the races for N.C. Court of Appeals were giving an edge to two challengers and two incumbents Tuesday night.

Six seats were up for election on the 15-seat N.C. Court of Appeals. Chief Judge John C. Martin, 64, a Raleigh Democrat, ran unopposed. Each seat carries an eight-year term. The salary is $128,011.

With The Associated Press reporting 77 percent of the vote in:

Incumbent James Wynn, 54, a Cary Democrat, held a 54 percent to 46 percent lead over Jewel Ann Farlow, 50, a Gibsonville Republican. Wynn has been an appellate judge for 17 years; Farlow is a private lawyer. She was the beneficiary of a gubernatorial pardon in 2001 for a misdemeanor conviction roughly 20 years earlier.

Democrat Sam Ervin IV, 52, of Morganton was holding a 54 percent to 46 percent lead over Kristin Ruth, 52, of New Hill for an open seat that incumbent John Tyson lost in the primary.

Ervin is a commissioner on the N.C. Utilities Commission, while Ruth has been a Wake County District Court judge since 1998.

Incumbent Doug McCullough, 63, an Atlantic Beach Republican, seeking a second term on the court was far behind — 43 to 57 percent — Cheri Beasley, 42, a Fayetteville Democrat and Cumberland County District Court judge.

McCullough contended that voters should give him another term after being publicly reprimanded for driving while impaired two years ago.

Incumbent Linda Stephens, 57, a Raleigh Democrat appointed to the court in 2006, held a 59 percent to 41 percent lead over Dan Barrett, 49, an Advance Republican who made an unsuccessful run for governor four years ago.

The sixth seat pitted two men with strong ties to their respective political parties, and showed a tight race.

Robert Hunter, 61, a Greensboro Republican who had served as chairman of the State Board of Elections under Republican Gov. Jim Martin, held a 54 percent to 46 percent edge over incumbent John Arrowood, 52, a Charlotte Democrat appointed to the court in 2007 and a former member of the N.C. Democratic Party’s executive committee.

The races are officially nonpartisan, though some candidates advertised their party affiliations and the state Democratic Party paid for advertising to promote Democratic judicial candidates. The party ran mailers and bought advertising in newspapers that predominately serve African-American readers.

The advertising triggered additional public funds for Republican candidates who had accepted public financing. Farlow was the only candidate not to accept public financing.

Ervin and Ruth also received the so-called “rescue public funds” because of a quirk in the state’s public financing laws. The quirk allows those who are spent against to receive public money, even if both were beneficiaries of the outside spending. Both candidates later returned the money.

The Court of Appeals is the state’s intermediate appellate court. It reviews every type of case except for death penalty cases, which are automatically reviewed by the N.C. Supreme Court.