Anita Earls, a Democrat, is seeking a second term on the North Carolina Supreme Court against Republican Sarah Stevens for Associate Justice Seat 1 in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. The official candidate list confirms the statewide contest.
Experience and education
The North Carolina Judicial Branch records Earls’s installation on Jan. 3, 2019, after her 2018 election. It identifies her as a graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School.
Her campaign biography describes a career in civil rights litigation, service as a deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department, work at UNC’s Center for Civil Rights and founding the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in 2007. She led that organization for 10 years before her Supreme Court election.
The Judicial Branch also lists prior service on the Equal Access to Justice Commission and State Board of Elections, and teaching at Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Maryland.
Judicial approach
Earls’s campaign emphasizes equal justice, constitutional freedoms, voting rights and fair treatment. In her State Board of Elections Judicial Voter Guide statement, she argues that an independent judiciary is essential to the balance of powers and that courts should protect people’s rights regardless of race, gender or income.
An earlier version listed a 1987 Yale law graduation date. That date has been removed because the candidate’s 2026 voter guide lists 1988. The schools and judicial service are corroborated by the Judicial Branch.
