Rep. Joe John (Wake Co.) (Photo: NCGA)
Democrats in the General Assembly proposed legislation recently in memory of the late state Rep. Joe John that would realize his vision of a return to nonpartisan judicial elections in North Carolina.
Filed by Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) and Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) in the House and Senate, respectively, the companion bills honor John as a “lifelong public servant and champion of an independent judiciary” and aims to make state judicial races in North Carolina nonpartisan contests in a bid to restore public trust in the justice system. The legislation has 27 sponsors in the House and 10 in the Senate, all Democrats. Joining Morey as a primary sponsor in the House is John’s successor, Rep. Phil Rubin (D-Wake).
Political affiliations were first removed from the ballot for North Carolina judicial elections in 1996, beginning with superior court elections with district and appellate elections following in 2001 and 2002. When Republicans swept into control of the General Assembly in the 2010s, they passed bills reversing these changes, with all judicial elections including partisan labels again by 2018. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, North Carolina is one of just seven states to select all of its judges through partisan elections.
In addition to reversing this change, the “Judge Joe John Nonpartisan Judicial Elections Act” would also bring back public financing for appellate judicial campaigns, with candidates eligible only if they adhere to fundraising and spending limits set by the bill. The General Assembly previously created a public campaign fund in 2004 with the aim of maintaining judicial integrity, but Republican lawmakers abolished it in 2013.
John, a former North Carolina Court of Appeals judge who joined the state House of Representatives in 2017, introduced bills to return the state to nonpartisan judicial elections and reestablish a public campaign fund for judges three times as a lawmaker. He died in January at 85, days after resigning from the House due to his battle with cancer.
“Judge Joe John embodied the principles of fairness and justice that he advocated for,” said Morey, who joined John on each of those bills. “He believed that partisanship had no place in the judiciary and that judges should be elected based on legal experience, knowledge of the law, and integrity. When political labels are used to define judges, impartiality and independence erodes.”
The bill comes against the backdrop of one of the most pitched partisan fights over a Supreme Court race in North Carolina’s history, with Republican candidate Judge Jefferson Griffin continuing to battle his electoral defeat in the courts more than 100 days after the election, hoping to toss out more than 65,000 votes in order to overturn his loss.
“In my eighteen years as a judge, I never once ran in a partisan election,” Morey said. “We have watched in real time how the partisanship of judicial races has imbued dark money into judicial politics and placed party politics above the constitution and rule of law.”
Grafstein said she was grateful to help advance John’s cause, commending him as “a man of integrity who understood that a strong and independent judiciary is central to our democracy.”
“Joe John was a true statesman and public servant,” Grafstein said. “It is an honor to file this bill in his name, not only to mark his legacy but to do our part to carry it forward.”
Read the bill here:
H129 – Judge Joe John Nonpartisan Judicial Elections Act