Who is running for NC Supreme Court Associate Justice, Seat 1 in 2026?

Attorney in private practice; former state representative

Sarah Stevens is a Mount Airy family law attorney, licensed since 1986, who served in the North Carolina House from January 2009 until she resigned on June 16, 2026 to campaign full time for the Supreme Court²⁵⁴. She was House speaker pro tempore from 2017 to January 2025 and chaired House judiciary and election law committees⁴⁵³. She has not served as a judge and faces Democratic incumbent Justice Anita Earls on November 3, 2026 in this partisan race⁶¹.

• Attorney in private practice in Mount Airy for about 40 years, licensed in 1986²⁶
• Member, North Carolina House of Representatives, District 90 (Surry and Wilkes counties), January 2009 to June 16, 2026; speaker pro tempore, January 2017 to January 2025; chair of House judiciary committees for many sessions and of a redistricting committee in 2023 to 2024; she says she chaired House judiciary for 14 years and the Courts Commission for six years⁴³²
• Has never served as a judge⁶
• B.S. in social work, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1981; J.D., Campbell University School of Law, 1986²
• Has not held judicial office. She filed for the Supreme Court seat in December 2025, advanced without a primary because the Republican primary was canceled, and resigned her House seat effective June 16, 2026 to focus on the race³⁵¹.

Associate Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court

Anita Earls has been an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court since January 2019 and is its senior associate justice²³. She was a civil rights lawyer who founded the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, directed the UNC Center for Civil Rights and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights voting rights project, and served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division²³. She faces Republican Sarah Stevens on November 3, 2026 in this partisan race¹³.

• Associate Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court, since 2019; currently senior associate justice²³
• Founder and executive director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, 2007 to 2017; director of advocacy, UNC Center for Civil Rights, 2003 to 2007; director, Voting Rights Project, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 2000 to 2003; deputy assistant attorney general, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, appointed 1998; attorney at Ferguson, Stein law firm in Charlotte from 1988; adjunct professor²⁴³
• B.A. in political economy and philosophy, Williams College, 1981; J.D., Yale Law School, 1988; admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1988²³
• Elected on November 6, 2018, defeating incumbent Republican Justice Barbara Jackson and Chris Anglin with 49.6 percent of the vote, and took office in January 2019 for an eight-year term³. Both 2026 primaries were canceled; she is seeking a second term against Sarah Stevens³¹.