RALEIGH — Republican Chris Freeman has defeated Democrat Martin Moore in the race for North Carolina Court of Appeals seat 15.
While results are still unofficial, Freeman had nearly 200,000 more votes than Moore and a margin beyond the 1% or less needed for a recount.
Freeman, 47, easily won the Republican March 5 primary race for the seat with more than 62% of the vote over the incumbent Judge Hunter Murphy, who was censured by the state Supreme Court in 2020.
Murphy’s censure was the result of an investigation into his executive assistant, Ben Tuite. The investigation found Tuite had sexually harassed and threatened female clerks in the office and that Murphy had failed to stop Tuite’s actions.
Freeman has been serving as the 17A Judicial District Court Judge and had been an assistant district attorney serving the same area: Rockingham and Caswell counties.
Born in Asheboro, Freeman received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from High Point University (1999) and his law degree from the Regent University School of Law (2002).
Since 2013, Freeman has served as a JAG officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
Moore, 36, is a current Buncombe County Commissioner (District 2) and an appellate attorney at his own firm, Martin E. Moore, PLLC. In the past, Moore was a public defender in Buncombe County and had worked for the Van Winkle, Buck, Wall, Starnes, & Davis law firm.
Moore, who is from Arden, received an endorsement from gubernatorial appointee to the N.C. Supreme Court, Associate Justice Allison Riggs as well as sitting Associated Justice Anita Earls. Both women are Democrats.
Moore received his undergraduate degree from UNC Chapel Hill and his law degree from the UNC School of Law at Chapel Hill.
