http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/keischa-lovelace/Content?oid=4266622

Keischa Lovelace

Full Legal Name: KEISCHA MICHELLE LOVELACE
Name as it Appears on the Ballot: KEISCHA LOVELACE
Office Sought/District: N.C. COURT OF APPEALS-MARTIN SEAT
Party: NONPARTISAN OFFICE; REGISTERED DEMOCRAT
Date of Birth: SEPTEMBER 17, 1975
Home Address: 768 SEASTONE ST, RALEIGH, N.C. 27603
Mailing Address (if different from home): POST OFFICE BOX 27491, RALEIGH, NC 27611
Campaign Web Site: www.lovelaceforcourtofappeals.com
Occupation & Employer: DEPUTY COMMISSIONER-N.C. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION
Home Phone: 919-810-5531
Work Phone: 919-807-2560
Email: lovelaceforcourtofappeals@gmail.com

This is a long questionnaire but you can read it all, if you follow the link.

I could not find a questionnaire for John Arrowood at this time.

Cressie Thigpen 395,341 20.32%
Doug McCullough 295,758 15.2%
Chris Dillon 202,164 10.39%
Anne Middleton 174,673 8.98%
Daniel E. Garner 154,163 7.92%
Jewel Ann Farlow 152,150 7.82%
Harry E. Payne, Jr. 99,322 5.11%
Stan Hammer 96,604 4.97%
Mark E. Klass 90,604 4.66%
Pamela M. Vesper 90,180 4.64%
John F. Bloss 78,920 4.06%
John Sullivan 70,000 3.60%
J. Wesley Casteen 45,639 2.35%

© 2014 Microsoft

The NCDP State Executive Council set up a committee to develop a procedure to culminate in the endorsement of one of the Democratic candidates for the Martin seat, which was chaired by David Bland of Wake County. This was as a result of a discussion and proposal originating with the State Executive Council. I was a member of the committee. The members of the committee were from Wake, Catawba and Haywood Counties. In addition, Senator Don Davis served as an invaluable resource to the committee as we developed procedures for the Sunday meeting. The NCDP staff assisted us with the logistics of printing, copying and mailing. We reviewed judicial surveys from various states, compiled a survey, which was vetted by the Executive Council. The survey was revised, sent again to the SEC, as was the timeline for this process. Next, the surveys were sent to the candidates, after we had spoken with them personally to explain what we were trying to accomplish, along with a letter explaining the process from Chairman Bland. The candidates completed the surveys and sent resumes as well. That information along with the SBOE voter guide for the judges' races were then sent to all SEC members. There were conference calls along the way with the SEC and extensive discussions among the committee members about making the process as fair and transparent as possible. The procedure for the Sunday meeting was revised based upon the input received from the SEC. On Sunday, no campaign literature or signage was allowed for any candidate and hard copies of the surveys, we had received previously from the candidates, were disseminated to SEC members and to a few proxies in attendance. The candidates made ten minute presentations to the group. All candidates were impressive and brought different skills and experiences to the table. On the second round of voting, John Arrowood gained the majority plus one vote he needed to be the endorsee. I hope this helps explain the process more clearly as this was a new initiative for the NCDP and the SEC.

There have been two multi-candidate general election judicial races in the recent history of North Carolina. These races are instructive as to what Democratic candidate has the best chance of winning. In the 2004 race, there were 8 candidates. The candidate with the most votes won with no runoff requirement in order to win by obtaining a majority. Paul Martin Newby won this race with 23 percent of the vote.(582,684 voters) He was endorsed by the Republican Party. The runner up was current federal judge James Wynn. He is an African-American and a Democrat. He received 20 percent of the vote ( 508,416 votes.) The Democratic Party did not endorse a candidate. Wynn received the endorsement of the African American PACS across the state. In the 2010 race, there were 13 candidates. There was an instant runoff in this race. However, the order of where candidates placed in the first vote provide guidance as to how the vote distribution could be in the 2014 race. The first place finisher was Cressie Thigpen who received 20.32 percent of the vote.( 395,341 votes) He was endorsed by the African American PACS and key interest groups the NCAE, the Advocates for Justice and the AFL-CIO etc. The second place finisher was Doug McCullough. He is a Republican. He received 15.2% of the vote on the first ballot. (295,758 votes) In both races, the first place winners received between 23 percent and 20.3 percent of the vote respectively. With a field of 19 candidates, this percentage is likely to decline. It would appear that the likely winner of this race will win with 23 percent or less of the total votes. The strongest Democratic candidate in both races were the African American candidates. It is likely because African Americans are the base of the party and their PACS distribute thousands of instructional ballots directly to voters. They will make up at least 20 percent of the vote on election day. Going into this race, an African American candidate who could obtain the African-American PAC endorsements would stand the best chance of winning if coupled with some key interest group endorsements.. In this 19 candidate race, there are 3 African American candidates all of whom would serve well on the Court of Appeals: Superior Court Judge Abe Jones, District Court Judge Lori Christian and Deputy Commissioner Keischa Lovelace.( Lovelace is a workers' compensation judge.) Given the strength of these 4 candidates, the chances of uniform support from the African American PACS appeared unlikely to materialize. The Advocates for Justice, the largest trial lawyer group in the state, assessed the situation and determined that out of these 3 candidates, the best choice to have a chance of putting the coalition of African American PACS together was Keischa Lovelace They endorsed a candidate prior to the NCAE and the AFL-CIO. This assessment has largely been proven to be true. With the exception of the African American PAC in Wake County where both Judge Christian and Judge Jones reside, Deputy Commissioner Lovelace has received all the major African American PACS across the state. She has won the unofficial primary in the African American community. With the split between the NCAE, AFL-CIO Equality PAC and NOW interest groups that endorsed Arrowood and the Advocates for Justice, there may not be enough progressives to combine with the African American community to win this race. Lovelace is in second place in this race and was poised to win with the Democratic Party endorsement. Without that endorsement she may fall short by a few percentage votes behind right winger John Tyson who has been endorsed by the Republican Party. Here is my prediction unless the dynamic changes over the next two weeks: Tyson will win with 21 percent of the vote, Lovelace will come in second with 17 percent of the vote and Arrowood will compete for third place with Patricia Shields receiving at best 10 percent of the vote.