{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Josephine Kerr Davis","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"DEM","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJosephine Kerr Davis is the incumbent Democratic judge for District 16B Seat 3 of the North Carolina 1st Superior Court Division, a four-year term that began January 1, 2024 and ends December 31, 2026. She is seeking re-election in the November 3, 2026 general election, after the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary was cancelled, leaving her unopposed in the primary [1].\n\n## Background and education\nBorn and raised in the Durham area, Davis has lived in the district for four decades [2].\n\n## Career\nDavis has more than fifteen years of experience across criminal and civil law, having worked as an assistant public defender in Fayetteville, a prosecutor, an assistant attorney general in the North Carolina Department of Justice, and an appeals hearing officer [2]. Early in her career she served at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, representing indigent defendants facing capital charges [2]. She also worked with the Land Loss Prevention Project on civil-rights cases involving African-American and female farmers, and later presided over unemployment-insurance hearings as a quasi-judicial official for the Employment Security Commission [2]. Davis cites former Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks as a model of experience, courage, and judicial temperament, qualities she says she brings to the bench, and describes her involvement in cases that challenged North Carolina's Racial Justice Act and advocated for reforms in capital jury selection [2]. Her community involvement includes the People's Alliance, Junior League, and Jack and Jill of America [2].\n\n## Office history\nDavis was first elected to the Superior Court in 2024, defeating Dawn Baxton with 65.1% of the vote [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Josephine Kerr Davis - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Josephine_Kerr_Davis)\n[2] [Josephine Kerr Davis - Durham County Superior Court Judge Candidate - INDY Week](https://indyweek.com/news/elections-news/josephine-kerr-davis/)","firstname":"Josephine","lastname":"Davis","middlename":"Kerr","suffix":null,"token":"8cfdf405f5312f66"},"token":"4RMXH2YyUSjXPynQ"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":null,"o.office":"superior_court_judge","office":"superior_court_judge","officedescription":"In North Carolina, a superior court judge presides over the general-jurisdiction trial court \u2014 felony criminal cases and civil cases above the district-court limit \u2014 riding a rotation among the counties of the judicial district. Decisions are subject to appellate review.","officequalities":"- Trial-court judge of general civil and criminal jurisdiction \u2014 presides over jury and bench trials, dispositive motions, and felony sentencing.\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 the substantive and procedural law that controls, and the published precedent.\n- Docket management across a rotating district while honoring due process.\n- Clear written and oral explanation of rulings, so the parties and the public can follow the reasoning.","officeterm":8,"officetitle":"Superior Court Judge","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Nc Superior Court Judge District 16B Seat 03"}