A North Carolina Supreme Court candidate fighting to have his party affiliation listed on the November ballot has won a second victory in court.
A Wake County Superior Court judge halted enforcement of a new law removing certain judicial candidates' party affiliation. The preliminary injunction issued Monday will remain in place until two lawsuits over the issue can be resolved.
Finalized earlier this month by Republicans in the legislature, the law says a judicial candidate's party affiliation won't be listed next to the candidate's name if it was changed less than 90 days before filing for a race.
State Supreme Court candidate Chris Anglin says the law targets him. He was a registered Democrat three weeks before entering the race as a Republican. Republicans accuse Anglin of being a Democratic "plant" trying to split the vote in the race in order to help Democratic opponent Anita Earls.
Anglin has denied those accusations. In an op-ed published in the Charlotte Observer, he wrote the "legislature has governed like the emperor with no clothes since gaining super majorities," and wants to "be a voice for the many disaffected, conservative, constitutional Republicans who believe the party has left them, and to make the point that partisan judicial elections are a mistake."