A majority of state appellate judges are women.

After Cheri Beasley's win in November, eight of the 15 seats on the N.C. Court of Appeals are held by women. The court is the second-highest in the state after the Supreme Court.

Along with Beasley, the female judges are Linda Stephens, Linda McGee, Wanda Bryant, Ann Marie Calabria, Martha Geer, Barbara Jackson and Donna Stroud.

Although the posts are officially nonpartisan, Calabria, Jackson and Stroud are Republicans; the rest of the judges are Democrats. They are elected statewide.

Two other women, Jewel Ann Farlow and Kristin Ruth, lost campaigns in November.

State Supreme Court justices Robin Hudson, Patricia Timmons-Goodson and Sarah Parker previously served as judges on the Court of Appeals.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated Jackson's affiliation.

The N.C. Police Benevolent Association has made its primary endorsements.

The group, which represents law enforcement officers around the state, has endorsed Beverly Perdue for governor, Hampton Dellinger for lieutenant governor and Janet Cowell for state treasurer.

In judicial races, it endorsed Associate Justice Bob Edmunds for re-election to his Supreme Court seat, Cheri Beasley, Linda Stephens, Sam J. Ervin IV, Jim Wynn and John Arrowood for the state Court of Appeals.

In Congressional races, it endorsed U.S. Reps. Walter Jones and Brad Miller.

Endorsements were made after a recent screening of 25 candidates.

"The candidates were asked questions on issues vitally important to the law enforcement profession and public safety," the group wrote in a press release. "Many outstanding candidates were in attendance."

Cheri Beasley is running for the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Beasley has served as a District Court judge in Cumberland County for the last nine years. A Democrat, she was appointed by former Gov. Jim Hunt.

Previously, she worked in legal departments for several corporations in Research Triangle Park and briefly served in the Wake County District Attorney's office.

She also worked for five years in the Fayetteville Public Defender's office.

She attended Rutgers University and went to law school at the University of Tennessee. While in law school, Beasley studied comparative law at the University of Oxford in England.

She will be running against the incumbent Doug McCullough for the 12th Judicial District.