Support for partisan judicial elections has surfaced in the state House.
Four days after Sen. Thom Goolsby’s filing of a Senate bill to again elect judges by party–a system North Carolina left behind a decade ago after legislative changes that began in the 1990s–a House equivalent is on file.
Rep. Frank Iler, the Republican from Brunswick County, is a primary sponsor of the House bill to “Restore Partisan Judicial Elections,” entered Monday. Its language mirrors the same-titled Senate version.
The bill basically seeks a polar change from how North Carolina judges today are placed on the benches: by nonpartisan elections.
Goolsby in an interview last week explained a change back to the partisan structure would give voters better ideas about the judicial candidates that appear the ballots. (Related story)
A similar bill introduced in the 2011-12 legislative session by Sen. Jerry W. Tillman (R-Randolph)–who is also a primary sponsor of the current Senate bill–cleared the Senate and gained support from members of both parties in the House before the bill entered and ultimately died in the chamber’s elections committee.
The Senate bill Monday night had nine secondary sponsors, all Republican.
The House bill’s primary sponsors in addition to Iler are Reps. Rayne Brown (R-Davidson), Dennis Riddell (R-Alamance) and Bert Jones (R-Rockingham). It carried three secondary sponsors, all Republican.
Click here to view full information about the House bill.
Click here to view that of the Senate bill, which passed its first reading Monday and now sits in the Senate’s rules and operations committee.
Contact Ben Brown at ben.b@hometownwilmington.com or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
