In the 2022 primary election, the N.C. Supreme Court race might not be top of mind but the election will determine the balance of the court in the coming years.
Right now, the court is four Democrats and three Republicans. However, two Democrats are up for election this year. That means Republicans only need to win one seat to flip the balance of the court.
The primary will decide which candidate will face incumbent Democrat Sam Ervin IV in November.
BPR’s Lilly Knoepp talked with the Smoky Mountain News editor Kyle Perroriti about redistricting and the Republican candidates for seat 5: April Wood, Trey Allen and Victoria Fox.
One of the biggest issues that could be on the new Supreme Court’s desk: election maps. The current court ruled that Republican Chief Justice Paul Newby would appoint special masters (two Republicans and one Democrat) to draw General Assembly and congressional maps. Those maps may soon be heard by the United States Supreme Court.
The N.C. Supreme Court also decided that the district maps would need to be redrawn prior to the 2024 election. So, considering how the previous years maps have played out in the courts it’s likely that the maps will be back in the state Supreme Court’s hands.
Here are brief bios of each candidate:
April Wood
April Wood has served as a judge since 2002, first in District Court and then on the Court of Appeals for the last year and a half. She earned her law degree from Regent University, a well-known private Christian university in Virginia.
Trey Allen
Curtis “Trey” Allen, served as a Marine Corps Judge Advocate General and deployed to Iraq. Previously he worked at a law firm and then at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Government. He is currently the general counsel for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Court (AOC), which is charged with running the judicial system statewide.
Victoria Prince
Victoria Prince of Greenboro filed for candidacy but has no website or social media presence. She did not respond to email requests and phone calls from The Smoky Mountain News seeking an interview.
