Here's what you need to know about the NC Court of Appeals elections for seats 10 and 11

The 2022 midterm elections are less than seven weeks away, and both of the incumbents for seats 10 and 11 on the North Carolina Court of Appeals are running to keep their seats this November.

Here is what you should know about the campaigns for both seats on the appellate court. 

N.C. Court of Appeals Seat 10

Both candidates ran unopposed in their primary races, and the incumbent Republican Judge John Marsh Tyson and his Democratic challenger Judge Gale Adams moved forward to campaign for seat 10.

Tyson previously served as a judge for the N.C. Court of Appeals from 2001 to 2009. Despite not winning reelection in 2008, he won the seat again in the 2014 elections and has held the position since.

He has also taught at the Campbell University School of Law for 35 years. Tyson said he has always aimed to be transparent with his work.

"Every two weeks, I post all my opinions on my Facebook page and my Twitter page with links directly to those opinions as easy as I can for folks just to go and be able to review my work and to see what kind of job I'm building,” Tyson said.

He said he has received endorsements from the North Carolina Press Association and the N.C. Defense Fund.

The Democratic candidate, Adams, is running to serve on an appellate court for the first time in her career. Adams first served as a judge advocate general for the U.S. Navy after law school. Since then, she has served as an assistant district attorney and worked in the Office of the Federal Public Defender.

She was also elected as a resident superior court judge in Cumberland County in 2012. Adams said she hopes to bring her diverse legal experience to the court, should she be elected.

“People in the courtroom should be treated with dignity and respect,” Adams said. 

She has received endorsements from the North Carolina Advocates for Justice and the North Carolina chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

N.C. Court of Appeals Seat 11

The race for seat 11 includes Democratic incumbent appellate Judge Darren Jackson and his Republican opponent Judge Michael Stading. 

Jackson ran unopposed in the Democratic primary election in May and moved forward to the appellate court midterm elections.

Jackson has over 25 years of legal experience in small claims court, the U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also served as a member of the N.C. House of Representatives from 2009-2020 and was the House minority leader from 2016-2020.

He was appointed to his current seat on the N.C. Court of Appeals by Gov. Roy Cooper on Dec. 30, 2020, filling a vacant position left by Judge Phil Berger Jr., who is now serving on the N.C. Supreme Court.

“Hopefully I get to continue to serve and be transparent and predictable in decisions that I make based upon the law and nothing else," Jackson said. "And that's what I've tried to do from the time I got appointed to the seat. I will probably continue to do everything the same.”

The Republican candidate for this race is Stading, who defeated fellow Republican Charlton L. Allen in the May primary elections. 

Stading has experience as a prosecutor, a district court judge and a judge advocate general in the U.S. Air Force.

“On the Court of Appeals, I will continue to uphold the same values I do every day in my current job as a North Carolina district court judge – treat everyone with respect and dignity while applying the law fairly and impartially,” Standing said. 

According to his campaign website, he hopes to uphold the Constitution, defend law and order and protect American values.

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