Incumbent Anita Earls (D) and Sarah Stevens (R) are running in the partisan general election for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court on November 3, 2026.

The Carolina Journal's Andrew Pomeranz wrote, "Democratic Justice Anita Earls faces Republican former state Rep. Sarah Stevens in North Carolina’s only Supreme Court race this November, a contest that could shape the balance of power on the state’s highest court in 2028, when three more seats will be on the ballot."

Republicans have controlled the court since 2023 after winning two seats from Democratic justices in the 2022 elections. In total, they have a 5-2 majority. Democrats defended a seat on the court in 2024, when Justice Allison Riggs (D) won by just 734 votes. Democrats last gained a seat from Republicans in 2018, when Earls was first elected. If Earls wins reelection, Democrats will need to win only two out of three seats in 2028 to regain the majority. If Stevens wins, Democrats will need to win all three seats up in 2028 to win the majority. In discussing the election, former Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr said, "People talk to me more about '28 than they do about this election."

Earls has been a justice since 2019. She is campaigning on her record. She has discussed being part of the court's decision overturning the state's congressional maps in 2022, saying, "I think that that was a very democracy-affirming ruling, very nonpartisan ... I think the highest role of our court is to enforce the state Constitution in a way that protects everyone’s votes." Earls says that her philosophy is nonpartisan: "I don’t favor businesses over individuals. I don’t favor the state over the defendant. And I don’t pay attention to political party. What matters is what is the law and how [it applies] in that particular case."

Stevens served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2009 to 2026. She is campaigning on her record, and her campaign website focuses on her work on children's issues, saying she "worked tirelessly to reform the Child Welfare system in North Carolina, advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves." Describing her judicial philosophy, Stevens said she is a "constitutional conservative who will follow the constitution as written, and the laws as written. Not as I want them to be."

According to Winston-Salem Journal's Scott Sexton, this election is on track to be the most expensive state court election in state history, beating the previous record of $10.5 million in 1984. Ballotpedia has analyzed fundraising in past North Carolina Supreme Court elections since 2008 and tracked how it has changed. To read that analysis, click here.

North Carolina is one of 31 states holding elections for their supreme courts in 2026. To read more about state supreme court elections in 2026, click here.