Republicans Sweep North Carolina Supreme Court Elections: How the Conservative Court Could Have Major Impacts in the New Year

The North Carolina Supreme Court is located in the state’s capital that will house the new conservative-majority high court. Source for picture: The Daily Tar Heel

While the 2022 election left North Carolina Republicans one seat short of a supermajority in the General Assembly, they quietly picked up two crucial seats on the North Carolina Supreme Court. One of those critical victories saw incumbent Democratic Justice Sam Ervin IV fall to lawyer and professor Trey Allen. The other race saw Democrat Lucy Inman and Republican Richard Dietz, both North Carolina Court of Appeals judges, vie for the open seat previously occupied by Justice Robin Hudson. Candidate Richard Dietz was named the winner of this race, ultimately giving the GOP a five to three majority on the bench of the state’s highest court. It is also certainly worth noting that these two victories ensure Republicans will maintain a majority on the bench until 2028 as a result of staggered races for Supreme Court seats. 

These two wins were likely expected by the GOP, as many anticipated this election cycle to be accompanied by a successful “red wave” – a dominant performance in the polls across the nation for Republicans. While the expected “red wave” turned into more of a “pink splash” throughout national elections in November, the North Carolina GOP saw their anticipated results in their sweep of the state’s judicial branch. Along with the victories of Allen and Dietz, Republicans also saw wins from their candidates for the North Carolina Court of Appeals.  

The soon-to-be Republican-dominated court will begin hearing important North Carolina cases after the two newly elected justices are sworn in at the beginning of the new year. In the words of candidate Lucy Innman, the court is “being asked to make some of the most difficult decisions they've been asked to make in [her] lifetime.” One of the biggest issues that the court will likely rule on is the drawing of electoral maps for the Tarheel state. North Carolina has a long history of gerrymandering or illegally manipulating voting districts in order to benefit the party in power. Because Governor Roy Cooper doesn’t have the power to veto unfairly drawn legislative maps, the Supreme Court is the only entity able to require the redrawing of unfair maps by ruling them unconstitutional. The congressional map used for the 2022 election cycle was court-mandated and featured an additional 14th district and a highly competitive 13th district. Compared to the map used for the 2020 election, this court-mandated map enabled Democrats to be more competitive in the election. Ultimately, the new map allowed them to pick up a new United States House of Representatives seat in Wiley Nickel from the 13th district. However, the Republican-led state legislature is already planning on redrawing the map for the 2024 election. 

Another extremely important issue the courts will likely have significant influence on is the right to abortion in North Carolina. With the Supreme Court of the United States having overturned Roe vs. Wade and sending the issue of abortion back to the states, there has been a flood of litigation concerning the right to abortion across the country. As state legislators pass laws concerning the right —or lack thereof— to get an abortion in their state, state supreme courts will ultimately decide whether the laws are in compliance with the state’s individual constitution. Although North Carolina law currently allows for abortions to happen up to 20 weeks, with a Republican controlled General Assembly and State Supreme Court this may change for North Carolinians in the near future. 

The two significant victories by Trey Allen and Richard Dietz put the North Carolina Republicans in a good position to pass many of their initiatives at the state level. Gerrymandered maps will likely be ruled constitutional, allowing the GOP to retain majority in the state legislature for the next election cycle. Abortion bans, if they pass both chambers of the General Assembly, will also likely be ruled within the confounds of the state constitution by the conservative court. Though North Carolina Democrats seem to be facing bleak chances of passing any initiatives this legislative session for their constituents, Governor Roy Cooper did retain his veto powers and will serve as the last wall of defense for Democrats against the majority Republican judicial and legislative branches.