One justice of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and three judges of the 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 6, 2018, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years. These elections were partisan for the first time since the elections of 2002. A law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2017 cancelled primary elections for judicial elections in 2018 only, meaning that an unlimited number of candidates from any party could run in the general election.
Democrats won all four races in November 2018, representing an increase of one Democrat on the Supreme Court and an increase of two Democrats on the Court of Appeals (with one Democrat elected to the seat he already held by appointment).
Justice Barbara Jackson ran for re-election to a second eight-year term.
Christopher Anglin, a registered Democrat, changed his party affiliation to Republican in early June, before registering as a candidate on the last day of filing period. In response, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill in July, Senate Bill 3, that would require judicial candidates to be registered with their party label for at least 90 days. If a candidate had not been registered for 90 days with a party, their name would appear on the ballot without a party label. Governor Cooper vetoed the bill, but the General Assembly overrode it. Anglin sued in the Wake County Superior Court, and the Court struck down parts of Senate Bill 3, allowing Anglin to be listed on the ballot as Republican.
The seat held by Judge John S. Arrowood was on the 2018 ballot. Arrowood was appointed to the seat in 2017 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Douglas McCullough.
The seat held by Judge Ann Marie Calabria, a Republican, was on the 2018 ballot. Calabria did not run for reelection.
The seat held by Judge Rick Elmore, a Republican, was on the 2018 ballot. Elmore announced in 2017 that he would not seek a third term.