NORTH CAROLINA — Judicial elections often receive less attention than other races, but like their legislative and executive counterparts, judges are required to disclose financial interests to ensure conflicts of interest do not influence their sworn duties.
READ MORE: What stocks do NC’s 2024 candidates hold? Part 1: State executive branch
ALSO: What stocks do NC’s 2024 candidates hold? Part 2: Tri-county legislative candidates
State-level officials and candidates are required to submit annual “statements of economic interest” to the North Carolina Ethics Commission, including income sources over $5,000 and stock holdings over $10,000. Unlike federal disclosures, SEIs do not include stock trades or detailed information about the amount of stock held.
This article is the third in a three part series covering North Carolina’s 2024 candidates’ SEIs; the first covered state executive branch candidates and the second covered tri-county legislative candidates for the 2024 election year.
The Judicial Standards Commission received at least 60 conflicts of interests complaints for state judges in its most recent 2022 review. The North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct states judges are supposed to recuse themselves from cases in which they or their family have financial interests that could be “substantially affected” by their rulings.
However, this isn’t mandated in the state; an investigation by nonprofit the Center for Public Integrity found Chief Justice Paul Newby heard at least six cases involving Duke Energy — including rulings on rate hikes, coal ash cleanup, and monopoly power — while he and his wife owned stock in the company.
Newby wrote the most recent ruling favoring Duke in an easement dispute in April 2023. Port City Daily found Supreme Court justice Tamara Barringer’s husband Brent Barringer also owned at least $10,000 in Duke Energy stock as of her most recent 2023 SEI, which covers holdings up to Dec. 31, 2022. PCD reached out to Barringer to ask if she sold the investment before the case but did not receive a response by press.
North Carolina previously had non-partisan judicial elections, but switched to partisan elections for the Supreme Court in 2016 and for district, superior, and appellate races in 2018. The state’s 2022 judicial elections broke state records for campaign financing, according to nonprofit the Brennan Center.
North Carolina judges in the state Supreme Court, appeals court, and superior court serve eight-year terms, while district court judges serve four-year terms. In the event of a vacancy, the governor appoints a successor until the next general election.
The Supreme Court is composed of one chief justice and six associate justices, who interpret questions of law and legal procedure from lower court rulings. The court of appeals is a 15-member body also charged with interpreting questions of law; it has 14 elected officials and one chief judge appointed by the Supreme Court chief justice.
Superior courts hear cases involving felony crimes, civil cases requesting more than $25,000 in damages, and appeals from district courts — which generally handle less severe criminal charges and civil cases with under $25,000 in damages.
PCD reviewed statements of economic interest for four statewide races — 2024’s one Supreme Court race and three appeals court elections — as well as tri-county region contests for two Superior Court seats and nine district court positions.
North Carolina Supreme Court
DEM: Allison Riggs is the incumbent and was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Roy Cooper to replace justice Michael Morgan in September 2023; Cooper appointed her to the court of appeals nine months earlier in January 2023.
She has served as co-executive director at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in Durham, North Carolina, and earned more than $5,000 from the nonprofit in 2023.
Riggs’ 2024 SEI does not include stock holdings but notes her husband Bryan Everly’s interests in two companies: Bryan Everly Insurance Agency, Inc. and Varsity Cellular, Inc.
Her husband received over $5,000 from four sources in 2023; income from Allen Insurance Group., income from holding company Varsity Cellular Inc., wages from State Farm, and income from real estate firm Everly Property Group. Her husband holds a 50% interest in 20 properties, 17 of which are in Guilford County. The other three are in Forsyth, Rockingham, and Davie counties.
REP: Jefferson Griffin has served as a judge with the North Carolina Court of Appeals since 2020. He was appointed to a Wake County district court seat in 2015 by former Governor Pat McCrory before winning the position’s 2016 general election and serving a four-year term.
Griffin’s SEI does not include stock holdings. He notes interests in Pintail Landing LLC, described as a farm rents business based in Smithfield. His wife is senior counsel with the Raleigh office of law firm Gordon Rees. She has worked as a registered lobbyist for the North Carolina Public Health Association.
Court of Appeals Seat 12
REP: Tom Murry serves as vice-chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Criminal Justice Section. Murry has also served as part of executive leadership at the North Carolina Judicial Branch, working with the chief justice and as assistant district attorney.
He was originally running for the Republican Attorney General primary before switching to the appeals court race in September, 2023. Murry owns over $10,000 in one stock, Truist Financial Corp.
DEM: Carolyn Thompson is a former superior court judge, district court judge, and deputy commissioner for the Industrial Commission. She is the president of the Law Offices of Carolyn Thompson, PC and received over $5,000 in salary from the law firm in 2023. Her SEI does not include stock holdings.
She is also president of domestic violence nonprofit Abigail’s Veil Ministries and a board member of Family Living Violence Free, Inc.
Court of Appeals Seat 14
REP: Valerie Zachary is the incumbent and was appointed to the court of appeals by Governor Pat McCrory in 2015 before winning the general election in 2016. Her husband Walter Lee Zachary is an attorney who reports earning over $5,000 in 2023 from legal fees.
Zachary and her husband’s stock holdings over $10,000 include:
- Duke Energy
- Enbridge
- Principal Financial Group
DEM: Ed Eldred is an attorney with Parry Law PLLC. His SEI does not include stock holdings. He received over $5,000 in payment from Edward Eldred Attorney at Law PLLC and the Law Offices of Amos Tyndall PLLS, the latter of which he contracted with the state to provide legal services for the NC Office of Indigent Defense Services.
Court of Appeals Seat 15
REP: Chris Freeman is a district court judge and former assistant district attorney in Rockingham. He defeated incumbent Hunter Murphy — the first appeals court justice to be formally censured by the North Carolina Supreme Court since 2007 — and claims to have the support of Supreme Court justice Phil Berger Jr. and his father, Senate leader Phil Berger Sr.
Freeman’s SEI does not include stock holdings. He is the owner of Rockingham-based rental property firm Probity Properties, LLC and owns eight properties in Rockingham County. He lists earning over $5,000 in rental income from five properties, as well as reserve duty salary from the Airforce.
DEM: Martin Moore is a county commissioner in Buncombe County and director of the Law Office of Martin E. Moore, PLLC. His SEI does not include stock holdings. He received over $5,000 in income from his government salary and business income.
Moore is a board member of nonprofits OpenDoors of Asheville and Campaign for Southern Equality.
District 6 represents New Hanover and Pender Counties
Superior Court District 6C Seat 1:
Superior Court justice Phyllis Gorham served New Hanover and Pender counties for 18 years before announcing her retirement last November. Her seat is up for grabs in the 2024 election; the candidates include:
REP: Max Ashworth is a public defender in New Hanover County and former president of the county’s Bar Association. His SEI does not include stock holdings.
DEM: Ricardo Jensen worked as a New Hanover County public defender before Governor Roy Cooper appointed him to the superior court in February. He is the husband of Katherine Randall, who is running for the state Senate district 8 seat. His SEI does not include stock holdings.
Superior Court District 6A Seat 1:
REP: Richard Kent Harrell is the incumbent and has served as a superior court judge since 2016. His SEI does not include stock holdings. He is the manager of Burgaw-based real estate development firm RKH Holdings LLC, which he founded in 2000. He received over $5,000 in salary from Liberty University in Virginia in 2023.
District Court Judge District 6 Seat 5:
DEM: Julius Corpening is the incumbent chief district court judge and has served the court since 1991.
He is the director of Cape Fear Council Boy Scouts of America. His wife Donna Corpening is a family law paralegal with Ward & Smith. Corpening’s 2024 SEI does not include stock holdings.
District Court Judge District 6 Seat 6
DEM: Jeffrey Evan Noecker was appointed as a district judge by Governor Mike Easley in 2008, before winning re-election in 2012, 2016, and 2020. He represents New Hanover and Pender counties. Noecker and his wife own stock over $10,000 in the following companies and investment funds:
- Cisco Systems Inc.
- JP Morgan Chase
- PVOXX
- Eli Lilly & Co
- Apple Inc.
- SPECX
- SGENX
- SPY
- SDY
- BHP Group Limited
- Meta
- FCNCO
- Goldman Sachs
- QQQM
- DMFL
- VOO
- VB
- Morgan Stanley
- RFPRC
- TFCPRR
- WFCPRA
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
District Court Judge District 6 Seat 7
REP: Sandra Ray is the incumbent district judge and formerly an assistant district attorney. Her SEI does not include stock holdings, but Ray received over $5,000 from an unspecified annuity.
District Court Judge District 6 Seat 8
DEM: Robin Wicks Robinson has served as district court judge since 2011. Her SEI does not include stock holdings.
District Court Judge District 6 Seat 9
DEM: Richard Russell Davis was appointed to the district court position in 2005 by Governor Mike Beasley. He has filed “no change forms” for all SEIs since 2016, meaning his economic positions have remained constant.
He did not own stock holdings in 2016, but noted he received over $5,000 in rental income. His wife Julia Schorr Davis is listed as executive director of New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
REP: Richard Kern is an attorney with Rice Law PLLC. His SEI does not include stock holdings.
His wife is the president of Castle Hayne-based real estate firm Andor Investments LLC and earned over $5,000 through digital identity and security firm ForgeRock and from Ballast Hotel. Kern also earned over $5,000 from wages as a musician.
District 15 represents Brunswick, Bladen, and Columbus counties
District Court Judge District 15 Seat 1
REP: Pauline Hankins was elected to the court in 2012. Her SEI does not include stock holdings but includes three sources of residential rental income over $5,000, including Heidi Dehart, Allayna Dail, and Jesse Vipperman.
She serves as a board member with the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council and NC African American Heritage Commission.
District Court Judge District 15 Seat 3
REP: John Calvin Chandler was appointed as district judge by Governor Roy Cooper in July 2020. His SEI does not include stock holdings.
District Court Judge District 15 Seat 4
REP: Thomas Heath Nance was appointed district judge by Governor Roy Cooper in November 2023 and previously worked as an assistant district attorney for the 15th prosecutorial district. His SEI does not include stock holdings. He is a board member of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and Cape Fear Council Boy Scouts of America
District Court Judge District 15 seat 6
REP: Scott Ussery is chief district court judge and a member of the Judicial Standards Commission. His 2024 SEI does not include stock holdings but lists interest in Elizabethtown-based Taylor Family Farms Inc., where his wife is a vice president.
Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at peter@localdailymedia.com.
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