Thirteen candidates filed to run for one judgeship vacated recently by Judge Jim Wynn before a one-week filing period ended late Tuesday afternoon. Five signed up on the final day.

The candidates include Cressie Thigpen, whom Gov. Bev Perdue chose to replace Wynn through December, former Court of Appeals Judge Doug McCullough and former state Labor Commissioner Harry Payne.

The number of candidates means voters must use instant runoff voting to choose a winner on Nov. 2. The voters rank their top three candidates in order of preference. Second-place votes are counted if no one gets a majority of first-place votes.

via Thirteen file for N.C. Court of Appeals – Elections – NewsObserver

In the other three contested Court of Appeals races, Anne Marie Calabria is running against Wake County District Judge Jane Gray to hold onto her seat, and incumbent Martha A. Geer faces a challenge from Dean R. Poirier, an appeals referee with the N.C. Employment Security Commission. Steven Walker, a legal clerk at the N.C. Supreme Court, is challenging Court of Appeals Judge Rick Elmore. Judge Sanford A. Steelman Jr. is unopposed.