Exclusive: Anita Earls raises $1.3 million in second half of 2025 for Supreme Court race

• Veteran Republican legislator Sarah Stevens, who represents Surry and Wilkes counties in the N.C. House, is the leading contender to take on Earls, a Durham-based civil rights attorney who was elected in 2018.

The big picture: The state Supreme Court has been one of the most influential bodies in state politics in recent years.

• The court has reversed many decisions made by the previous Democratic-majority court on topics like partisan gerrymandering and Voter ID, The News & Observer reported.
• It also reheard the Leandro case on school funding, though it hasn't ruled on it yet.

Between the lines: This year's election won't change the majority of the court, though a Republican win would entrench its majority ahead of a big 2028 election, The N&O noted.

• But in 2028, three of the court's Republican justices will be up for re-election.

Zoom in: Earls' campaign is expected to file its end-of-year finance report by the end of the month.

• Paul Shumaker, an adviser for Stevens' campaign, told Axios it wouldn't share numbers until it did.
• Last week, the state Board of Elections reprimanded Stevens for taking campaign contributions from lobbyists, illegal since she remains a state representative, NC Newsline reported. Stevens says she returned the money.

Flashback: In 2024, the election for a seat on the N.C. Supreme Court was the last race to be finalized in the entire country.

• It wasn't until May 2025 that Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin conceded to incumbent justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, after a six-month legal battle over thousands of ballots that Griffin had hoped to retroactively invalidate.
• That was an expensive race, as well, with Riggs raising $4.5 million and Griffin raising $1.9 million, according to The Carolina Journal.