Michael R. Morgan (North Carolina)
Michael R. Morgan (Democratic Party) (also known as Mike) was a judge of the North Carolina Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 1, 2017. He left office on September 8, 2023.
Morgan (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of North Carolina. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 5, 2024.
Morgan first became a member of the North Carolina Supreme Court through a nonpartisan election.[1] He was first elected to the court in 2016 to the seat vacated by Robert H. Edmunds Jr. To read more about judicial selection in North Carolina, click here.
Biography
Morgan was born in Cherry Point, North Carolina, and grew up in New Bern. He received a bachelor's in history and sociology from Duke University in 1976 and a J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1979. Morgan served ten years with the state department of justice after graduating law school before being appointed an administrative law judge with the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings in 1989.
In 1994, Gov. Jim Hunt (D) appointed Morgan to the Wake County District Court. He was retained by voters in 1996 and again in 2000 before winning election to the North Carolina Superior Court in 2004. He was elected to a second term in 2012.[2]
Elections
2024
See also: North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2024
General election
General election for Governor of North Carolina
Josh Stein defeated Mark K. Robinson, Mike Ross, Vinny Smith, and Wayne Turner in the general election for Governor of North Carolina on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Josh Stein (D) ![]() | 54.9 | 3,069,496 |
Mark K. Robinson (R) | 40.1 | 2,241,309 | ||
![]() | Mike Ross (L) ![]() | 3.2 | 176,392 | |
![]() | Vinny Smith (Constitution Party) | 1.0 | 54,738 | |
![]() | Wayne Turner (G) ![]() | 0.9 | 49,612 |
Total votes: 5,591,547 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Gordon Ward (Independent)
- Donte McCorey Sr. (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of North Carolina
Josh Stein defeated Michael R. Morgan, Chrelle Booker, Marcus Williams, and Gary Foxx in the Democratic primary for Governor of North Carolina on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Josh Stein ![]() | 69.6 | 479,026 |
![]() | Michael R. Morgan | 14.3 | 98,627 | |
![]() | Chrelle Booker | 6.7 | 46,045 | |
![]() | Marcus Williams | 5.7 | 39,257 | |
![]() | Gary Foxx | 3.7 | 25,283 |
Total votes: 688,238 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of North Carolina
Mark K. Robinson defeated Dale Folwell and Bill Graham in the Republican primary for Governor of North Carolina on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Mark K. Robinson | 64.8 | 666,504 | |
![]() | Dale Folwell | 19.2 | 196,955 | |
![]() | Bill Graham | 16.0 | 164,572 |
Total votes: 1,028,031 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Andy Wells (R)
- Jesse Thomas (R)
- Mark Walker (R)
Green primary election
The Green primary election was canceled. Wayne Turner advanced from the Green primary for Governor of North Carolina.
Libertarian primary election
Libertarian primary for Governor of North Carolina
Mike Ross defeated Shannon Bray in the Libertarian primary for Governor of North Carolina on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Mike Ross ![]() | 59.4 | 2,910 |
![]() | Shannon Bray | 40.6 | 1,985 |
Total votes: 4,895 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Morgan in this election.
2023
Morgan resigned from the Supreme Court of North Carolina on September 8, 2023.[3]
2016
Morgan filed to run for the North Carolina Supreme Court seat held by Justice Robert Edmunds in 2016. Both Morgan and Edmunds advanced through the June 7 primary to the November 8 general election.[4]
Election results
November 8 general election
North Carolina Supreme Court, Seat 2, 2016 | ||
---|---|---|
Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
![]() |
54.47% | 2,157,927 |
Robert H. Edmunds, Jr. Incumbent | 45.53% | 1,803,425 |
Total Votes (2,704 of 2,704: 100%) | 3,961,352 | |
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections Official Results |
June 7 primary election
North Carolina Supreme Court Primary, Seat 2, 2016 | ||
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Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
![]() |
48.01% | 235,405 |
![]() |
34.36% | 168,498 |
Sabra Jean Faires | 12.04% | 59,040 |
Daniel G. Robertson | 5.59% | 27,401 |
Total Votes (2710 of 2710 precincts reporting: 100%) | 490,344 | |
Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections Official Results |
Click [show] for more on Justice Morgan's 2016 campaign | |||||||||||||||
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2012
- Main article: North Carolina judicial elections, 2012
Morgan was re-elected without opposition on November 6, 2012.[13]
Judicial candidate survey
The North Carolina Bar Association asked its members to rank incumbent judges running for re-election on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being "excellent." Below are Morgan's ratings in five categories and overall:
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Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael R. Morgan did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Morgan’s campaign website stated the following:
“ |
PUBLIC EDUCATION ECONOMY + JOBS ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT LGBTQ+ RIGHTS CLIMATE CHANGE DEFEND DEMOCRACY |
” |
—Michael R. Morgan’s campaign website (2024)[15] |
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[16]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[17]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Michael
Morgan
North Carolina
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Strong Democrat - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Democrat
- Held political office as a Democrat
- Donated less than $2,000 to Democratic candidates
Partisan Profile
Details:
Morgan was a registered Democrat as of 2020. From 1983 to 1989, he was Assistant Attorney General within the North Carolina Department of Justice; at that time he was a registered Democrat. He donated $200 to Democratic candidates. The North Carolina Democratic Party contributed $16,858 to his campaign. He was endorsed by People's Alliance PAC and North Carolina Advocates for Justice, both of which endorse Democratic candidates more frequently than Republicans. North Carolina was a Republican trifecta when he was elected to the state supreme court.
State supreme court judicial selection in North Carolina
- See also: Judicial selection in North Carolina
The seven justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court are chosen through partisan elections. Justices are elected to eight-year terms and must face re-election if they wish to serve again.[18]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a person must be licensed to practice law in North Carolina. There is a mandatory retirement age of 72 years.[19]
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is elected by voters to serve in that capacity for an eight-year term.[20]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a successor to serve until the next general election which is held more than 60 days after the vacancy occurs. The governor must select an appointee from a list of three recommendations provided by the executive committee of the political party with which the vacating justice was affiliated.[21] An election is then held for a full eight-year term.[22][18]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ At the time of Morgan's election, elections to the North Carolina Supreme Court were nonpartisan. The state adopted partisan elections for the supreme and appellate courts later in 2016.
- ↑ North Carolina Judicial Branch, "Michael Morgan," accessed August 6, 2021
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ Citizen Times, "Morgan victory returns Democratic majority to NC Supreme Court," November 24, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The Outer Banks Voice, "Court candidate Morgan: Diversity, politicalization are issues," June 5, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ People's Alliance PAC, "Peoples Alliance PAC Endorses Mike Morgan for North Carolina Supreme Court," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ WENOCA Sierra Club of Western North Carolina, "Endorsement for Judge," accessed June 7, 2016
- ↑ Indy Week, "N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice: We Endorse Michael R. Morgan," June 1, 2016
- ↑ People's Alliance PAC, "Peoples Alliance PAC Endorses Mike Morgan for North Carolina Supreme Court," accessed June 1, 2016
- ↑ Archive.org, "Judge Michael Morgan," accessed August 6, 2021
- ↑ Judge Mike Morgan NC Supreme Court, "Endorsements," accessed September 19, 2016
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "November 6, 2012, Official General Election Results," accessed August 6, 2021
- ↑ NC Bar Association: Judicial Performance Evaluation Survey, January 2012 Scroll to p.6
- ↑ Mike Morgan, Governor, “Issues,” accessed February 20, 2024
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | School of Government, "History of North Carolina Judicial Elections," August 2020
- ↑ North Carolina Judicial Branch, "Judicial Qualifications Summary," September 28, 2016
- ↑ National Center for State Courts, "Methods of Judicial Selection: North Carolina," accessed September 20, 2021
- ↑ Ballotpedia Election Administration Legislation Tracker, "North Carolina S382," accessed December 19, 2024
- ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "North Carolina Constitution - Article IV," accessed September 20, 2021 (Section 19)
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Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
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Current judges | Trey Allen, Tamara Barringer, Phil Berger Jr., Richard Dietz, Anita Earls, Paul Martin Newby, Allison Riggs | ||
Former judges | Cheri Beasley, G.K. Butterfield, Mark A. Davis, Robert H. Edmunds Jr., Sam Ervin IV, Robin Hudson, Barbara Jackson, Mark D. Martin, Michael R. Morgan, Sarah Parker, Patricia Timmons-Goodson |
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina
State courts:
Supreme Court of North Carolina • North Carolina Court of Appeals • North Carolina Superior Courts • North Carolina District Courts
State resources:
Courts in North Carolina • North Carolina judicial elections • Judicial selection in North Carolina