Edmunds
RALEIGH, N.C. (Legal Newsline) - Republican incumbent Bob Edmunds retained his spot on the North Carolina Supreme Court Tuesday with a close win over Suzanne Reynolds.
Edmunds led 51-49 percent with tallying nearly complete when Reynolds conceded, The Associated Press reported. Edmunds' win means Republicans will keep a 4-3 majority on the court.
Edmunds will be serving his second eight-year term. Prior to serving as an associate justice, Edmunds was elected to the state Court of Appeals in 1998. He also worked as a U.S. attorney and a partner at Stern & Klepfer in Greensboro.
He's also a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
Reynolds is a law professor at Wake Forest University.
Edmunds told a group of Republicans that he was the key to preventing a one-party government, given the Democratic stronghold in the state, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Edmunds said he regrets the comment.
Edmunds was endorsed by all five living former chief justices -- Rhoda Billings, Jim Exum, Burley Mitchell, Henry Frye and Beverly Lake.
President Ronald Reagan appointed Edmunds to become a U.S. attorney in 1986, which he stayed until 1993. He's also made an unsuccessful run at becoming the state's attorney general.
From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.