One race close, the other … not so much

In the two statewide races for the N.C. Court of Appeals, incumbent Bob Hunter (Democrat in this nominally non-partisan race) has held a double-digit lead throughout polling.

With about 8 percent of the precincts reporting, he leads Kris Bailey (Republican) 58 percent to 42 percent.

The other race is much closer. With those same 8 percent of precincts tabulated, (Republican) Donna Stroud leads (Democrat) Linda Stephens by about 1,000 votes (50.31 percent to 49.69 percent).