Anita Earls
A Champion for North Carolinians’ Rights and Freedoms
Justice Anita Earls is an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court running for reelection to defend the rights and freedoms of the people she has dedicated her life to serving. The North Carolina state Supreme Court is positioned to play a critical role in fights on redistricting, abortion access, and executive powers, and Anita is on the front lines of the fight against the chaos and cruelty of the Trump administration. She is the only Black woman and one of two Democrats on a predominantly Republican bench.
From an early age, Anita wanted to be a lawyer to work for fairness and equal justice. After graduating from Williams College and Yale Law School, Anita went on to serve as a deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, and ran the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Her personal commitment to justice deepened immeasurably in 2006, when her own brother, an Army veteran, was killed and the elected district attorney declined to prosecute. Struggling to accept that she couldn’t get justice for her brother, she moved to North Carolina and formed the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. She was the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in a landmark case against racial gerrymandering, North Carolina v. Covington. Other battles involved North Carolina’s 2013 election law, which imposed a voter ID requirement, cut back on early voting, and eliminated same-day voter registration. Anita was elected to the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2018, and at her swearing-in said that her personal commitment was “to serve justice with a strong heart.” She is married with two children and two young grandchildren.
A High Stakes Fight
North Carolina is among the states that elect supreme court justices, while other states appoint them. State supreme courts play a critical role in protecting our rights and are one of the most effective tools we have to stop Republicans’ attacks on our freedoms. North Carolina has had more congressional redistricting in the last decade than any other state in the country as they repeatedly gerrymander new Republican seats, and getting back to fair maps starts with reelecting Anita to hold the line and then flipping the court in 2028.
Republicans will stop at nothing to win here — even going so far as to overturn election results when they lose. Last year, EMILYs List supported her colleague, Justice Allison Riggs’ win — and then helped her successfully defend her fairly-won seat while Republicans tried to overturn it and disenfranchise more than 65,000 votes. Ultimately, a federal judge ordered the state to certify Riggs as the winner after six months of costly fights in both state and federal courts. Now, Anita is facing a challenge from state Rep. Sarah Stevens, the voice of North Carolina women seeking to restrict abortion and an extremist whose announcement made it clear she is running to be a “conservative voice” on the court. North Carolina working families cannot afford to have their champion replaced with this advocate for special interests.
Our Assignment
Judicial races are increasingly costly. EMILYs List made its first state judicial endorsement in 2023, supporting the successful campaign of Justice Janet Protasiewicz in Wisconsin. Last year, EMILYs List was with Wisconsin Justice Susan Crawford in the most expensive judicial race in American history, as she defeated her Republican opponent despite heavy outside spending from Elon Musk. This year, three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices won retention, including EMILYs List-endorsed Justice Christine Donohue. EMILYs List is proud to help these women meet this moment, and to use our judicial race experience to help Anita every step of the way as she builds a strong campaign and defends herself against attacks. She can win, but she can’t do it alone — so let’s show Anita our full support and rush her the resources she needs to win and defend North Carolinian’s rights and freedoms on the front lines of the fight for our future.