A Last Look at Three Races That Matter to NC Farms
Early voting ends at 3 p.m. today, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. If you haven’t made your plan to vote yet, today is the day. Early voting includes same-day registration, and on Election Day, polls are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
In agriculture, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu, and voting is how farm families get a seat. Here’s a last look at three races with important seats at the table.
A farm voice in the NC Senate
A strong farm voice in the Senate, Sen. Lisa Stone Barnes represents Senate District 11, covering Franklin, Nash, and Vance Counties. She grew up on a farm in Nash County. She chairs the Senate Agriculture, Energy, and Environment Committee and the Appropriations on Agriculture, Natural, and Economic Resources Committee, and she co-chairs the Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission. In 2023, she voted to override then-Gov. Cooper’s veto of that year’s NC Farm Act. This June she supported the 2026 NC Farm Act, which extends the state’s land conservation tax credit through 2031, repeals the violation points system for swine farms and stiffens penalties for repeat crop theft. We named her our 2026 Ag Champion of the Year at the Farm Show Dinner.
NC Supreme Court
Former NC State Representative Sarah Stevens, now a candidate for our state’s highest court, represented Surry and Wilkes Counties in the NC House from 2009 to 2026 and chaired the House Elections Law Committee and one of the House’s three Judiciary Committees. She voted to override the Governor’s veto of the 2023 Farm Act, and voted for the 2026 Farm Act, which passed the House 110-2.
Our state’s highest court is of the utmost importance to farmers. For example, last October, the NC Supreme Court ruled 5-2 that DEQ overstepped by adding new conditions to animal-waste permits covering roughly 2,000 hog, cattle, and poultry farms without going through rulemaking, a win for the position taken by the NC Farm Bureau and our state’s agriculture community.
Justice Trey Allen, writing for the majority, called rulemaking “an important check on the regulatory power of administrative agencies.” Justice Anita Earls, Stevens’ opponent in this race, dissented, calling the Farm Bureau’s reasoning “unsound.” A farm-friendly judiciary means judges who apply the law as written, so producers get the predictability they need to plan ahead.
Court of Appeals
Three seats on the NC Court of Appeals are also on your ballot, and this court matters to farms because it’s where disputes over permits, rules and regulations get their first appellate review, and in most cases the last word. The Burke County chicken case is an example. In May 2025, a unanimous panel upheld the dismissal of an animal-rights group’s lawsuit against Case Farms, and the Supreme Court declined to hear it, meaning the ruling stands.
Judge Michael Byrne has been an administrative law judge at the NC Office of Administrative Hearings since 2020, where he has decided more than 400 cases. Ten of his decisions have been affirmed by the Court of Appeals and one by the Supreme Court, none being reversed. Byrne lives in Cary and is a graduate of NC State and Campbell Law School.
Judge George Bell has been a Superior Court judge in Mecklenburg County since 2019. Before taking the bench, he ran his own law firm for 12 years, handling criminal defense, family law and personal injury cases, and he has presided over more than 100 felony jury trials. Bell lives in Cornelius and is a graduate of Cornell University and Regent University School of Law.
Judge Craig Collins has lived in Gastonia since 1997. He spent nine years as an assistant district attorney in Gaston County, then opened his own law firm. He served as a district court judge until 2024, then was elected to the Superior Court. Collins is a former Gaston College trustee and has coached youth sports.
Every vote matters. The 2020 Chief Justice race was decided by 401 votes statewide, about four per county. The 2024 Supreme Court race was decided by 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast. Rural and farm voices can make the difference.
Make your plan at ncsbe.gov. Farmers show up for us every single day. This Election Day, let’s show up for them.
See you soon,
Adam Caldwell
Executive Director
NC Ag Partnership
P.S. Thursday, Nov. 5, is NC Farmers Appreciation Day, so look for more from us after the election.