Will Bland defeats Arnold O. Jones, Curtis Stackhouse defeats Annette Turik
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 9, 2016 9:58 AM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Curtis Stackhouse hugs his wife Elizabeth after he was named the winner of District Court Judge Tuesday night at the ACME Theater.
Full Size
News-Argus/SETH COMBS
Will Bland celebrates his victory for Superior Court Judge with family and friends at Ed's Southern Food and Spirits on Election Night 2016.
Two sitting judges lost their election bids by sizable margins in Tuesday's general election.
Goldsboro attorney Will Bland unseated District 8-B Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones II, of Pikeville, by an almost a two-to-one margin.
Bland had 29,251 votes (63.75 percent) to 16,630 (36.25 percent) for Jones.
In the race for District Court judge for District 8, Curtis Stackhouse of Goldsboro defeated Judge Annette Turik of Kinston 44,102 (58.74 percent) to 30,983 (41.26).
The district includes Wayne, Greene and Lenoir counties.
All vote totals are unofficial until the county canvass on Friday, Nov. 18.
Bland, 55, a former assistant district attorney now in private practice, and his supporters gathered at Ed's to watch the election results while Stackhouse, an assistant district attorney, and his supporters monitored the results at Acme Theater.
"Thank you to the people of Wayne County," Bland said as he shook hands and received hugs from his family and supporters. "It has been a great campaign since we filed. It has just been a lot of fun really running up and down and across and all over Wayne County from Eureka to Grantham to Seven Springs and everywhere in between."
Bland said he was pleased by the vote spread.
"In early voting we had a lot of people and a lot of friends at the early voting polling sites," Bland said. "It has made a tremendous difference, and you can see it in the results. The same today, we had a lot of people out there at every precinct, and I thank them very much.
"I will say we had a chance to be with Judge Jones' family and friends, and they were some great people that he had out there at the polling sites as well. I think we all enjoyed being out there together and look forward to working together in the future."
Bland said he thanks God for getting his family as well as all the other candidates and their families through the election -- a challenging process that "has its ups and downs."
"The Lord has sustained all of us, and I pray for Him to continue sustaining us into the future," Bland said.
Bland joked that he and his wife, Ellen, had celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary this year and had managed to spend about "20 second together."
"So we are looking forward to celebrating that sometime between now and the end of the year," Bland said. "I don't think we are going to Disney World, but I think we will go somewhere where we can put our feet up."
Bland said he felt gratitude for everyone he has met during the campaign.
"They have been so kind and friendly," he said. "It has been a joy to meet people all around. I had a lot of good barbecue and pastry. We have enjoyed all of it.
"I am very grateful for the support of everyone, and I ask for their support as we go forward. I am going to need everyone's help as we start this process. I thank them for it, and I look forward to serving.'
A Goldsboro native and graduate of Wayne Country Day School, Bland received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and his law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He also earned a master's in accounting from the Kenan-Flagler Business School in Chapel Hill. He graduated in the top 10 percent of his class and received the Outstanding Achievement Award at graduation.
Bland is the son of the late attorney W. Powell Bland and the grandson of county Judge David H. Bland.
He and his wife, Ellen, have two children, Jeff and Lucy.
Jones, who has served since 2008, could not be reached for comment.
He was found guilty in federal court last month on all three counts of an indictment charging him with bribing an officer to get copies of text messages between his wife and another man.
Jones is suspended with pay, but he remains a judge without administrative or adjudicative responsibilities.
*
Mrs. Turik was appointed last fall by Gov. Pat McCrory to fill the unexpired term of the late District Court Judge Timothy Finan, who died in June of 2015.
She and Stackhouse were among district lawyers in contention for the job. Stackhouse received 101 votes from district bar members while Mrs. Turik had 50 from the 132 attorneys who voted.
Tuesday Stackhouse handily carried Wayne County 30,400 (68.11 percent) to 14,232 (31,89 percent) for Mrs. Turik.
Stackhouse also carried Greene County, 3,670 votes (53.43 percent) to 3,199 (46.57 percent) for Mrs. Turik.
Mrs. Turik captured Lenoir County, 13,552 (57.46 percent) to 10,032 (42.54 percent) for Stackhouse.
Stackhouse told his supporters that he had almost withdrawn from the race earlier in the year because of health issues, but had decided to stay.
"When the first results started rolling in, immediately that was a good sign, and they just kept on coming," Stackhouse said. "When you are a candidate you have no idea what will happen, and truth be told, I had no idea what was going to happen. No idea. I am blessed and extremely pleased with the results -- not because of what I have done, but what we have done.
"My friends, my family supported me, and have worked their tails off for me, and I will be in their debt forever. I will remain an assistant DA until the end of the year. I have no more vacation time so I will be an ADA through the holidays. But we are looking very much forward to a swearing-in ceremony."
Mrs. Turik is a "very nice person," who is very well liked, he said.
"We are very pleased with how the people decided their next district court judge would be me," he said. "I am humbled to be their next district court judge."
Mrs. Turik said she was disappointed by the results.
"I worked very hard, and I feel like I worked very hard as district court judge and did a good job for our district," she said. "I would certainly like the opportunity to continue to do that.
"I would love to serve again, absolutely. Wayne County is the biggest county in our district, and it's hard to compete with those numbers. But I got a lot of support out of Wayne County, and I appreciate the support of all the district."
Stackhouse is the son of Dr. Jim Stackhouse and Joyce Keller, a Goldsboro attorney.
He and his wife, Elizabeth Stackhouse, have 2-year-old twins.
Stackhouse is a 1999 graduate of Eastern Wayne High School and received a business management degree in 2003 from N.C. State University. He received his law degree from the N.C. Central University School of Law in 2009.
While working on his law degree, Stackhouse completed internships in the Orange County District Attorney's Office and the Wake County Public Defenders Office.
After being hired, Stackhouse spent two years in district court, the last year as a DWI prosecutor.
He was promoted to superior court, where he handled low-level felonies. He was then assigned to handle sexual assault cases for a year. He currently exclusively handles high-level drug cases.