RALEIGH, NC (Legal Newsline) - If money-raised decided the race for the North Carolina Court of Appeals, Michael Stading would certainly have the advantage ahead of next week's primary.
The Mecklenburg County District Court judge reported in February that his campaign raised $171,306 over the prior year, which includes $50,000 raised by early March 2021, less than two months after he announced his candidacy. The North State Journal called the effort “a modern record in state history.”
Stading was less boastful.
“I am incredibly humbled and tremendously grateful for the generosity and support of so many North Carolinians who are unified behind our campaign,” he said in a statement. “We’ve crisscrossed North Carolina, attending event after event to meet as many voters as possible. We’ve built a strong coalition of statewide support, established a brilliant campaign team and strategy, and are well positioned to win the General Election – and save our Constitution – in November.”
Stading, 40, was elected to Mecklenburg’s 26th District Court bench in 2018. Before that he was a prosecutor in the county, and before that a JAG officer in the U.S. Air Force. He's also currently an Air Force reservist.
He notes on his campaign website that in each position he swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. On the Court of Appeals, he pledges to “uphold the Constitution” and also to “defend law-and-order.”
His broad range of experiences, he says, makes him an ideal candidate for the Court of Appeals.
“I’ve been a prosecutor, so I have that perspective,” he told the North State Journal. “I did defense work, so I have that perspective. I represented police officers in private practice, for different sets of circumstances, so, that perspective, and then from the military side, going into federal court getting to be a litigator again. You know, even while I’m still on the bench, when I go from civilian status to military status, I get to be a litigator… a court ordered attorney again… and, so, I get to have that perspective as well.”
His experience and vow to uphold the rule of law have earned him endorsements from all the leading North Carolina conservatives, including Congressman Dan Bishop, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson and state Senator Tom McInnis (R-Richmond).
He is one of three judicial candidates endorsed by the group, True Conservative Judges; the other two are Trey Allen, running for the Supreme Court, and Beth Freshwater Smith, running for the Court of Appeals.
Stading faces off against Charlton Allen, a private practice attorney, for Seat No. 11 in the May 17 primary.
Stading, his wife, Jennie, and their three children live in Mint Hill.