{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Susan (Smitty) Dotson-Smith","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"DEM","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nSusan Marie Dotson-Smith is a District Court Judge for Judicial District 40, which serves Buncombe County, North Carolina. She was appointed to the court by Governor Bev Perdue on October 13, 2012, filling the vacancy created by the departure of Judge Rebecca B. Knight.\n\n## Background and education\nDotson-Smith earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her Juris Doctorate from Wake Forest University School of Law.\n\n## Career\nBefore her appointment to the bench, Dotson-Smith was in private practice in Asheville, North Carolina, for approximately twenty years. She also served as a primary hearing officer for the Buncombe County Clerk of Court. She is certified as a superior court mediator and as a mediator in matters before the clerk.\n\nDotson-Smith has served on the North Carolina Courts Commission, the North Carolina Bar Association's Law-Related Education Committee, the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys Board, and the North Carolina Women's Forum Board. She has also been active in Mock Trial and Moot Court programs.\n\n## Sources\n- [1] [Judge Susan Dotson-Smith Sworn In \u2013 Buncombe County Bar](https://buncombebar.com/judge-susan-dotson-smith-sworn-in/)\n- [2] [Susan Dotson-Smith \u2013 NC Judicial Branch](https://www.nccourts.gov/judicial-directory/susan-dotson-smith)\n","firstname":"Susan","lastname":"Dotson-Smith","middlename":"Marie","suffix":null,"token":"ecf28dd6d04a5873"},"token":"6lYqh6lXgC5pYnAo"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":null,"o.office":"district_court_judge","office":"district_court_judge","officedescription":"In North Carolina, a district court judge presides over the high-volume lower trial court \u2014 misdemeanors, smaller civil cases, and most family and juvenile matters (custody, support, domestic violence, abuse/neglect). Many litigants appear without lawyers.","officequalities":"- Judge of a high-volume district court \u2014 misdemeanors, smaller civil cases, and family and juvenile matters, often with unrepresented parties.\n- Judicial temperament: the willingness to listen, deliberate, and apply the law dispassionately to people whose lives are deeply affected by the outcome.\n- Impartiality and ethics under the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct, including recusal when conflicts arise.\n- Working knowledge of family, juvenile, and criminal procedure and the precedent that controls.\n- Efficient management of a heavy docket while honoring due process.\n- Accessibility and clarity for the many who appear without counsel.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"District Court Judge","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Nc District Court Judge District 40 Seat 04"}