Salmon (D) v. Stroud (R), for the NC Court of Appeals

 

PamsPicks didn't endorse the Democrat in this Court of Appeals race. I may vote for him anyway on the theory that even a conservative Democrat is better than a conservative Republican. Make up your own mind.

NC Court of Appeals Judge, Seat 9

NOTE: You may vote for one. Candidates are presented below in the order they appear on your ballot.

Reason for my Non-Endorsement: I don’t endorse Democratic candidates who cast votes in favor of abortion restrictions and who seek to dictate who uses which bathroom. And I don’t endorse Republicans who receive endorsements from anti-abortion groups and cite Antonin Scalia as their judicial hero.

Brad A. Salmon, Democrat

https://www.judgebradsalmon.com

https://www.facebook.com/JudgeBradSalmon

Salmon is a founding partner at the Salmon Law Firm “where he focused on representing clients in various criminal, civil and administrative matters.” Previously, he served as a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for District 51 — elected in 2014. He was defeated for reelection in 2016.

Salmon earned his Bachelor of Arts from North Carolina State University and his Juris Doctor from Campbell Law School. In November 2021, Governor Roy Cooper appointed Salmon to serve as District Court Judge in Judicial District 11, which serves Johnston, Harnett, and Lee counties.

Salmon is a mixed bag. While he has been rated over the years with generally low or moderate scores by very conservative groups, he receives mostly decent scores by outfits like the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters. While he supports Medicaid expansion in NC, he wasn’t sure how he felt about raising the state’s minimum wage. His environmental record is pretty good, but he voted in favor of HB2, a bill that required individuals to use bathrooms according to their biological sex and was the only Democrat to vote in favor of placing stricter regulations on abortion rights in 2015.

I contacted Salmon via Facebook messenger on October 13th to ask him the reasons for his votes on abortion rights and the Bathroom bill. While my message was read, I have yet to receive a response.

Donna Stroud, Republican

https://www.facebook.com/JudgeStroud

https://judgestroud.com/

https://twitter.com/judgestroud

First elected to the Appeals Court in 2006, Stroud is running for her 3rd 8-year term. She was born in Kinston, North Carolina, and received her bachelor’s degree in government summa cum laude from Campbell University at Buies Creek in 1985. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from Campbell University School of Law in 1988. She also earned an LL.M. from Duke University School of Law in 2014.

In the candidate questionnaire for Ballotpedia, and among other answers, she said her favorite book was the Bible (no, really): “Of course, it’s not really one book; it is a collection of books, but it is the foundation of our legal system and it provides the best answers and guidance for every issue we confront in life.”

And she listed Antonin Scalia as her judicial hero (no, really): “I try to follow his example in his approach to cases as an originalist and textualist. His opinions are exceptionally well-written and clear.”

But the extreme conservative website The Daily Haymaker called her “Another RINO in a black robe,” so go figure. She’s endorsed by the NC Values Coalition (an anti-abortion advocacy group), Conservative Coalition NC, even the Sierra Club, and by Former Chief Judge Linda McGee, among a host of other former justices of the Supreme Court of North Carolina and judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.