Politics

Republican leaders choose nominee for Superior Court judgeship

By Bill Moss, Published: March 26, 2026

Republican Party leaders from Henderson, Polk and Transylvania counties on Wednesday chose District Court Judge Gene Johnson as the Republican nominee to appear on the Nov. 3 general election ballot to replace Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Peter Knight, who retired on March 1.

The timing of Knight’s retirement set up the unusual situation statewide under which the major political parties were entitled to nominate a candidate for the general election. Linda Ford, chair of the Henderson County Democratic Party, said the Democrats, too, plan to nominate someone to run for the seat.

Meeting at the VFW Hall in Hendersonville, a committee made up of party leaders from the 42nd Judicial District selected Johnson, who won election to the lower court in 2020, over Michael VanBuren, an assistant district attorney based in Hendersonville. James Lee III, a Hendersonville attorney in private practice, withdrew from consideration before the nominee-selection proceeding began.

“It’s a normal election process,” Merry Guy, the former Henderson County Republican Party chair who has been chair of the GOP’s 11th Congressional District Committee since last May, said Wednesday night in an interview. “They’re nominated, they give a candidate speech.” 

The committee did not release the percentage of the vote Johnson gained to win the nomination.

“It’s really nice to know we have strong such candidates interested in running for that seat,” Guy said of Johnson and VanBuren. “That’s a hard job.”

Party leaders and activists will turn next to the effort to keep the bench in Republican hands in the 42nd Judicial District. Currently, all the district and superior court judges in the three-county jurisdiction are Republicans.

“We’re not taking anything for granted,” Guy said, “but that Superior Court seat district is made up of three strong Republican counties.”