judicial

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It was a cold and early Saturday in early November. The streets were empty, but the parking lot of the Planetarium was filling up at 8:55am. Why? Because Saturday early voting was about to begin. Yep, there was a line out around the statue of James Polk waiting to vote early. Which raises the question, why?



Originally posted at CountryCrats.

In the 2003-‘04 election cycle, NC Congressman Charles Taylor (R-11) received three times as much in donations from energy-related political action committees (PACs) as he had in the three previous election cycles, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In 2003-04, Taylor received $51,531 from energy PACs. From 1997-2002, Taylor averaged $14,995 in oil, gas, mining, and power company PAC donations. In the 2005-06 cycle he has so far received $22,750.

And surprise, surprise! In a remarkable coincidence with absolutely no relationship to all that lovin’ from the energy industries, in 2003 Taylor just “happened” to write two particularly controversial pieces of legislation for their benefit.

On May 2nd, judges will be on the primary ballot with the top two in each race heading on to the general election. Since this has been an exam week for me, I have not been able to do a thorough analysis on each candidate (and with a final tomorrow at 9AM will not be able to do one now), but luckily the NCDP has put together a list of judicial candidates that have been long time Democrats here. Since judge's party affiliation will not be listed on the ballot and there is only one race that has more than one Democrat and in each the Democrat is the best candidate (in my humble opinion), this is a pretty good shorthand to remember when going to the polls.

North Carolina Supreme Court

Supreme Court Chief Justice (Parker Seat): Chief Justice Sarah Parker

With so much emphasis on local and Congressional races, it's easy to lose sight of the critically important judiciary. Many people I know don't really know how to evaluate the candidates, and sometimes make their choices based on the ubiquity of yard signs. Here's a better option: Take the endorsements of the Independent to heart. Being a local boy with a contrarian streak, I don't always agree with the Independent about endorsements, but I think they nail these races. And I hope they don't mind if I post some excerpts.

State Supreme Court: Five candidates are vying for an open seat on the state's highest court, and we support sitting N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Robin Hudson of Raleigh. N.C.