Voting for NC Judges: my recommendations

One of the pleasant surprises of moving to North Carolina in 2005 was to discover that the people of North Carolina elect their judges. 

That's a good thing. Thomas Jefferson would approve. (In South Carolina the legislature elects judges).

Since judges are elected on a nonpartisan basis, having a ballpark idea of where a judicial candidate stands on issues takes a little reading, research, and question-asking, and those things take time and knowledge of where to look for information. The NC State Board of Elections prints and distributes a guide to judicial candidates to help voters, but citizens must go to the trouble to read it thoroughly.

It should go without saying that I urge you to exercise your Christian duty next Tuesday: Go to the polls, and vote for the candidate of your choice. Both political parties would have you believe that the economy is the supreme issue. Not so. Without strong moral values, no free economy can ever survive.

Increasingly the courts are deciding massive moral direction for our nation, and that means that a vote for good, moral, constitutionally-strict judges is of foremost importance.

Here are my recommendations, as a citizen speaking for myself, for North Carolina statewide judicial races you might consider on November 2:

Supreme Court: Barbara Jackson

Court of Appeals: 

(Steelman Seat): Steelman

(Calabria Seat): Calabria 

(Elmore Seat): Walker – Both Walker or Elmore would be fine judges.

(Greer Seat): Poirier

In an effort to avoid a runoff between 13 candidates for the Wynn seat, the SBOE has devised a system of voting by which a voter marks her/his first choice, second choice, and third choice on the ballot.

(Wynn Seat): 

1^st – McCullough (was on the Court of Appeals but defeated in 2008) 

2^nd – Garner

3^rd – Dillon

As you prepare to vote, you'll also want to be sure to listen to a marvelous podcast at the Beeson Divinity School website by Dr. Timothy George.

Whatever you do, vote! Get your neighbors to vote.

And then pray. Without God's intervention, I see little hope for this country. The Church must be the Church--salt and light, and the conscience of society.