Supreme Court Justice Bob Edmunds is stressing his Republican ties.
Edmunds told Republican voters in Watauga County that Republican judgeships are being targeted by Democrats in the upcoming election, the Boone Mountain Times reports.
The judiciary, he said, is the last area of government that has a Republican majority.
"I'm the one person standing between you and one-party government in North Carolina," said Edmunds, who is seeking reelection. Judicial elections are non-partisan, and the preamble to state rules of ethics calls for an independent judiciary.
Edmunds made the comments March 1 at a Watauga Republican convention, attended by gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr and U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx.
He told Dome Tuesday that he tries to remain bipartisan, but judicial races have taken on a partisan tone. Wake Forest law professor Suzanne Reynolds, a registered Democrat, is vying for Edmunds' seat, Titan Barksdale reports.
"Every incumbent on the appellate level is being challenged by a Democrat, and we can't pretend that this is not happening," Edmunds said. "We're finding it very difficult to be bipartisan and non-partisan when we're being challenged in a partisan way."
Update: Reynolds said her decision to run is not motivated by partisan interests.
“I want to assure the voters of this state that there is nothing partisan about my decision to run for the North Carolina Supreme Court, and I am firmly committed to the principles of fairness and impartiality that should characterize the selection of judges," Reynolds said in an e-mail to Dome.
"I am running because I believe I can best use my experience interpreting and teaching law by serving on our Supreme Court.”
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Re: Edmunds stresses Republican ties
The Chairman of the NC Democrat Party put out a hit list by e-mail recently on Judges with every "conservative" Judge as a target. Ever since the Judges Races went "non-partisan" because the Democrats were losing judgeships there has been a targeting. Judge Edmunds is right the Democrats would love to take this state back to the good old days of one Party Democrat rule. We don't need liberal activist judges there are enough Liberals in the House, Senate and Council of State.