NC Supreme Court candidates visit Guilford County

Robert C. Hunter (left), a candidate for NC Supreme Court, visits with Guilford County Clerk of Court David Churchill this afternoon.

Robert C. Hunter, a candidate for NC Supreme Court, made a stop at the Guilford County Courthouse in Greensboro this afternoon after a visit to the courthouse in High Point.

It was hard to find an audience. Public Defender Wallace Harrelson was out of the office for health reasons. Clerk of Court David Churchill commiserated that judicial races, similar to his elected post, typically attract little interest from voters. Hunter handed his campaign card to a private security guard in the elevator. He planned to drop in on District Attorney Doug Henderson also.

Like his opponent, Barbara Jackson, Hunter currently serves on the NC Court of Appeals and is looking for a promotion from state voters to fill the seat of retiring Associate Justice Edward Thomas Brady. Although judicial races are nominally nonpartisan, party registration is likely to shape the outcome of the race. A Democrat from Marion, Hunter enjoys relatively strong name recognition within his party thanks to nine terms in the NC House in the 1980s and 1990s. Jackson, a registered Republican, is well regarded in conservative circles.

Hunter is touring the state in a recreational vehicle.

Hunter said he would like to see the Supreme Court take more cases, write more opinions and be more transparent, although he declined to specify how the court could let in more sunshine. In an interview today, he emphasized his experience, including 12 years on the appellate bench, legal work as an assistant district attorney and in private practice and legislative service focused on the courts.

As an example of the kind of case decided by the Supreme Court that affects the lives of ordinary North Carolinians, Hunter said, “Cases were being dismissed for what I thought were technical reasons. I think people’s cases ought to be heard. I wrote a dissent to a majority opinion as a judge on the appeals court, and the Supreme Court agreed with me.”

Jackson visited Greensboro on Monday when she addressed the group WOMAN at Mahi’s Seafood Restaurant. She outlined a career that included a clerkship in the NC Supreme Court, work advocating for people with disabilities, private practice on land use and municipal law, and a stint as general counsel for the NS Department of Labor.

“I have a passion for the law and a passion for public service, and that’s what I bring to the Supreme Court,” she said. “For me, it’s really the highest honor for an attorney in the state of North Carolina to serve on the state Supreme Court. Being a judge has been quite an honor for me. It’s something that I really love. I can’t think of another better job that a person can have.”