Democrats gained a 5-2 advantage on the North Carolina Supreme Court and won all three races for the state Court of Appeals in Tuesday’s midterm election.

Liberal civil-rights attorney Anita Earls soundly defeated incumbent Republican Justice Barbara Jackson for the Supreme Court in a contest also including attorney Christoper Anglin. Anglin, a long-time registered Democrat, took advantage of a state law nixing judicial primaries. He switched his registration to Republican a few weeks before the filing deadline, splitting the Republican vote.

In Court of Appeals races, incumbent Democratic Judge John Arrowood narrowly defeated former state budget director Andrew Heath by less than 1 percentage point in unofficial returns.

The other two open appellate court seats included three candidates and also were won by Democrats, with Toby Hampson and Allegra Katherine Collins joining the court.

Winners are in bold type, with incumbents indicated by *

Supreme Court:

  • Christopher Anglin (R): 16.44 percent
  • Anita Earls (D): 49.56 percent
  • Barbara Jackson (R)*: 33.99 percent

Court of Appeals Seat 1:

  • John Arrowood (D)*: 50.73 percent
  • Andrew Heath (R): 49.27 percent

Court of Appeals Seat 2:

  • Jefferson Griffin (R): 35.69 percent
  • Toby Hampson (D): 48.81 percent
  • Sandra Ray (R): 15.51 percent

Court of Appeals Seat 3:

  • Allegra Katherine Collins (D): 48.59 percent
  • Chuck Kitchen (R): 46.90 percent
  • Michael Monaco (L): 4.50 percent