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Endorses Bell

The race

Seat 2 on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, an eight-year term elected statewide on a partisan ballot on November 3, 2026. Roster verified against the CSV's compilation source: incumbent Judge Toby Hampson (D), on the court since January 2019, against George Cooper Bell (R), a Mecklenburg County Superior Court judge. The Court of Appeals sits 12–3 Republican; this is one of the three Democratic-held seats on the ballot.

Toby Hampson — Incumbent. He "grew up as a lawyer" in the Court of Appeals itself — a law clerk for the court, then private practice leading his firm's Appellate Practice group, a North Carolina State Bar certified specialist in appellate practice, and service on the NC Bar Association's Appellate Rules Committee; elected to the court in 2018 and serving since 2019, with campaign materials citing 16-plus years around the appellate system. His stated philosophy: "The law, when properly interpreted and properly applied, should absolutely make sense in real life," and a campaign platform of upholding the rule of law, protecting constitutional rights, and ensuring fairness for North Carolina families. Endorsements: Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic, the NC State AFL-CIO, and the Sierra Club North Carolina. Dirt and doctrine, at the proven standard: Hampson sat on the same three-judge panel — with Judges John Arrowood and Allegra Collins — that enjoined North Carolina's voter-ID law; the documented ruling, criticized by the conservative Civitas Institute (labeled partisan) as resting on inferred legislative intent, is the fact we price: an enacted election-integrity statute blocked from the bench. No discipline or personal scandal surfaced in the pass.

George Cooper Bell — Challenger. A North Carolina Superior Court judge in Mecklenburg County since 2019 (elected 2018), living in Cornelius. Before the bench: more than two decades practicing law in North Carolina, roughly 14 of them as a criminal defense attorney. His record in service, per his NCSBE candidate statement: he has held criminals accountable and put numerous violent criminals in prison for life without parole. His stated philosophy, from his News & Observer questionnaire and campaign: "judicial restraint, public safety and constitutional interpretation"; part of it is to "put victims of crime first, and hold violent, repeat offenders accountable because justice requires it"; his campaign promises "discipline, integrity, and legal excellence." He calls himself a "common sense" candidate, and his campaign notes his awareness of the trauma children experience in family-law cases. Endorsements: the North Carolina Republican Party and the NC Values Coalition. Dirt search: no discipline, scandal, or reversed-signature ruling surfaced; the honest limit is that his appellate judging is unproven — Superior Court is a trial bench, and the step up is a watch posture, never a demerit.

Pros and cons

Hampson: Pros: The most appellate-specialized résumé in the North Carolina batch — clerked on this court, certified appellate specialist, ran an appellate practice group, seven-plus years judging here. Cons: He co-authored the voter-ID injunction posture: specialty in service of blocking the legislature's enacted election law is the activist pattern our doctrine prices heaviest, and it is documented in his own tenure. Bell: Pros: A sitting trial judge since 2019 with a courtroom record of life-without-parole sentences for violent offenders; an explicitly restraint-named philosophy with victims first; a defense-attorney past that gives him due process from both tables. Cons: No appellate record; "common sense" is a slogan until an appellate opinion tests it — unproven at this level, flagged as a watch item.

Record gaps

OUR CALL

Our call: endorse George Cooper Bell. The evidentiary basis: Bell names our doctrine's standard himself — judicial restraint — and backs it with seven years of trial judging whose documented output is violent offenders held accountable and victims put first, after 14 years defending the accused, which is due process understood from both sides. Hampson's appellate craftsmanship is genuine and credited above; it is paired with a documented share in enjoining the state's voter-ID law, and under LiberalMind doctrine proven activism on the bench outweighs craftsmanship. A Democratic incumbent earns our endorsement with a restrained break record; Hampson's signature panel ruling is the opposite entry in the ledger. Bell's appellate inexperience is unproven, not a demerit. Vote Bell.

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Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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