# 2012 North Carolina judicial elections

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
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vte :
One justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and three judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the elections for Governor and other offices. North Carolina judicial elections are non-partisan. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. In three of the four races, incumbents were re-elected to their seats, but incumbent Court of Appeals Judge Cressie Thigpen (who had never been elected but rather was appointed to fill a vacancy on the court) was defeated by Chris Dillon.

## Supreme Court

Associate Justice Paul Martin Newby ran for re-election for a second 8-year term. North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Sam J. Ervin IV challenged Newby in the general election.
Justice at Stake estimated that total spending by Newby, Ervin, and outside groups in this contest surpassed $4.4 million, breaking North Carolina records for spending in judicial elections. One group, Americans for Prosperity, spent $250,000 in support of Newby, more than the group had ever spent on any judicial election.

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Paul Newby | Sam Ervin IV | Undecided |
| Public Policy Polling | October 29–31, 2012 | 730 | ± 3.6% | 35% | 39% | 26% |
| Public Policy Polling | October 12–14, 2012 | 1,084 | ± 3.0% | 24% | 32% | 44% |
| Public Policy Polling | September 27–30, 2012 | 1,084 | ± 3.0% | 23% | 31% | 46% |

### Endorsements

Federal officials
* Virginia Foxx, U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 5th congressional district
Political parties
* North Carolina Republican Party
Organizations
* North Carolina Chamber of Commerce
* NC Defense Fund
* NC Federation of Independent Businesses
Political parties
* North Carolina Democratic Party
Organizations
* Equality North Carolina
* NC Association of Educators
* NC Association of Women Attorneys
* NC Police Benevolent Association
* NC Sierra Club
* NC Troopers Association

### Results

2012 North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice (Newby seat) election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisan | Paul Martin Newby (incumbent) | 1,821,562 | 51.90% |
| | Nonpartisan | Sam J. Ervin IV | 1,688,463 | 48.10% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 3,510,025 | 100.0% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

## Court of Appeals (Bryant seat)

Judge Wanda G. Bryant was the incumbent and ran for re-election. She was challenged by District Court Judge Marty McGee. Bryant won re-election with 56.5 percent of the vote.

## Court of Appeals (McGee seat)

Judge Linda McGee ran for re-election to a third full term. She was challenged by attorney David S. Robinson. McGee won re-election with 61.2 percent of the vote.

## Court of Appeals (Thigpen seat)

Judge Cressie Thigpen, who was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by former Judge Barbara Jackson's election to the Supreme Court, ran for a full term. He was challenged by attorney/bank executive Chris Dillon, who ran for a seat on the Court of Appeals in 2010. Dillon defeated Thigpen and won the seat with 52.8 percent of the vote.