Edwin Duane Clontz

Edwin Duane Clontz is a Democratic candidate on the 2026 North Carolina ballot, though the specific office for which he is running is not identified in the available sources. He currently serves as a district court judge for the 28th Judicial District, which covers Buncombe County, North Carolina ¹.

Clontz earned his undergraduate degree from Western Carolina University and received his Juris Doctor from the Southern Illinois University School of Law ¹. Prior to joining the bench, he worked as the chief assistant clerk of the Superior Court in Buncombe County and also served as a magistrate for the same county ¹.

In April 2011, Governor Bev Perdue appointed Clontz to the district court bench ¹. He subsequently ran for election in 2014, winning a primary with 35.1% of the vote and a general election with 52.9% of the vote, securing a term that expired on December 31, 2018 ¹.

As a district court judge, Clontz presides over a range of criminal and civil matters, including bond hearings, probable‑cause hearings, and other pre‑trial proceedings. Recent news reports show him making bond decisions in high‑profile cases, such as maintaining a $100,000 bond for an 18‑year‑old charged with first‑degree murder in November 2023 ¹⁰, and denying a request to revoke bond for a man accused of detonating an explosive device in July 2023, while imposing additional release conditions ¹².

Clontz’s judicial conduct has drawn scrutiny. In 2020, the North Carolina Supreme Court publicly reprimanded him for conducting a probable‑cause hearing without the defendant’s counsel present, finding that his actions “demonstrated a disregard for the defendant’s statutory and constitutional rights” ¹¹. The reprimand stemmed from a July 2018 hearing in which he proceeded despite the appointed attorney’s tardiness.

Overall, Clontz’s record reflects typical duties of a district court judge—overseeing criminal prosecutions, managing bail and bond issues, and ensuring courtroom procedure—combined with a notable disciplinary episode that was widely reported in state legal media.

No campaign website, email address, or telephone number for Judge Clontz was identified in the sources consulted. The Ballotpedia entry provides only a generic placeholder image and does not list personal contact information.

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