Martin remains chief justice in N.C.
Published 10:54 pm Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Chief Justice Mark Martin has won election to an eight-year term on North Carolina’s Supreme Court.
He beat Superior Court Judge Ola Lewis of Southport capturing about 70 percent of the vote, according to returns tabulated by The Associated Press.
Martin is the longest-serving member of the court, joining it in 1999. But he moved to chief justice less than two months ago following the mandatory-age retirement of Sarah Parker. He was appointed to the post by Gov. Pat McCrory.
Mindful of Parker’s retirement, Martin announced last year he was running for chief justice, who also administers the state court system.
Lewis is currently senior resident Superior Court judge for Brunswick County, which she argued gave her more real-world and day-by-day judicial experience compared to Martin.
From chief justice of the N.C. Supreme Court to local District Court judges, voters across North Carolina went to the polls Tuesday (and during early voting) to decide who would dispense justice in the state’s courts.
In the race to fill the seat once held by Martin on the N.C. Court of Appeals, 19 candidates sought votes. Early returns had John M. Tyson leading that race with 24.75 percent of the vote. Depending on vote totals, a runoff in that race could be possible.
District Court judges Darrell B. Cayton Jr. and Regina Parker were unopposed in their bids to serve in the 2nd Judicial District, which includes Beaufort County.
Seth Edwards, district attorney for the 2nd Prosecutorial District, which includes Beaufort County, was unopposed in his re-election bid.
Sam Ervin IV appeared successful in his bid for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court, taking 53 percent of the vote. Challenger Bob Hunter had 47 percent of the vote, according to late, unofficial returns. Ervin claims the seat once held by Martin.
All vote totals are unofficial. Local boards of election will canvass ballots Nov. 14. The last day to file an election protest is Nov. 18.
For complete results of the state’s judicial races, see future editions of the Washington Daily News.
About Mike Voss
Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.
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