Why Republican judges tend to win

Unaffiliated voters like judges who stick to the rule of law. Will that open the door to district court judges in big cities?

I got the chance to join the Hornet’s Nest Republican Men’s Club for Judicialpalooza last week. Which is a fantastic name for an event, by the way.

It was a powerhouse crowd, with multiple Court of Appeals judges on hand, plus several candidates who want to join them next year.

The U.S. Senate race is going to suck up all the oxygen, but the stakes in the 2026 judicial elections are pretty high, too. Democrats will make a hard run to re-elect Justice Anita Earls, and if they do, they could flip the N.C. Supreme Court by winning two of three seats in 2028.

Fallout from the Jefferson Griffin challenge notwithstanding, my read is that Rep. Sarah Stevens still has better-than-even odds to beat Earls, even at a steep money disadvantage.

There’s a simple reason why.

Court of Appeals Judge Michael Stading put his finger on it at the event. Stading described how he talks to unaffiliated voters, and even some Democrats, when he’s campaigning. He simply asks: What do you want out of a judge?

“If…