RALEIGH, N.C. — The state Republican Party is weighing in on a Court of Appeals race this November featuring 19 candidates by endorsing a former judge on the intermediate appeals court.
The party announced this week the GOP state executive committee agreed to support John Tyson for the seat vacated when Judge John Martin retired.
Party Chairman Claude Pope says there were a number of qualified Republican candidates, but party leaders decided to coalesce around the ex-judge to increase chances a Republican will win.
Tyson was elected to the court in 2000 and served for eight years. He was recently chairman of the State Ethics Commission.
The highest vote-getter of the 19 candidates wins the election. There is no runoff.