News

Party leaders to pick candidates for vacant Superior Court judge seat

By Amy McCraw, Published: March 20, 2026

Area Republican and Democratic leaders will meet in coming days to select candidates for a Superior Court judge seat left open after the recent retirement of Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Peter Knight.

The candidates selected by the two parties in Henderson, Transylvania and Polk counties will appear on the ballot in November’s general election, leaving voters with little say in who will ultimately serve an 8-year term on the Superior Court bench.
Knight’s retirement a few weeks ago also means that North Carolina Governor Josh Stein will likely appoint a judge to serve until the election.
State law requires that the seat be on the November ballot because the vacancy occurred more than 60 days from the 2026 general election, the governor’s office said this week.
“The governor can appoint someone to hold the seat until then. The constitution provides that it must be someone duly authorized to practice law in the state,” according to a statement from the governor’s office.
Henderson County Board of Elections Director Summer Heatherly said Friday that she is waiting for direction from the state board of elections on how to handle the contest for the open judge seat.
Executive committees from both political parties in the 42nd judicial district where Knight, a Republican, served as senior resident superior court judge will select a candidate to appear on the ballot. The judicial district includes Henderson, Transylvania and Polk counties.
Republican executive committees from the three counties will meet on Wednesday to select a nominee for the judicial seat in a weighted vote based on the number of Republicans in each county, said Merry Guy, chair of the 11th Congressional District Committee.
Henderson County Democratic Party Chair Linda Ford said Democrats from the three counties will meet in the next few days to select two people from each county who will determine the Democratic candidate for the judge seat. She said she did not yet know who might be interested in being a candidate.
District Court Judge Gene Johnson, Assistant District Attorney Michael Van Buren and Hendersonville attorney James Lee III are being considered as a possible candidate for the Republicans.
Johnson, who worked as an attorney from 1988 to 2021, has served as a District Court judge for the past five years.
His background as an attorney, experience as a District Court judge and relationships with court personnel, he said, qualify him to serve as a judge in Superior Court, where more complex cases are handled.
Johnson said the process for choosing a new Superior Court judge in situations such as Knight’s retirement is flawed.
“There’s a lot of confusion about it. I don’t agree with it, but that’s the law,” he said. “The voters should put someone in for that length of time.”
Van Buren has served as an assistant district attorney for 23 years, the last two years in the 42nd District.
His experience as a prosecutor is needed on the bench in the Superior Court where many criminal cases are tried, he said.
“It is really important that we have an effective Superior Court judge,” he said.
Van Buren called the Republican Executive Committee selection process for the seat vacated by Knight extraordinary and one of the most important things the committee will do.
Lee has worked as a civil litigation attorney for the last 16 years with most of his cases handled in Civil Superior Court.
He said he wanted to serve as a Superior Court judge because it is important that judges understand the complexities of civil law.
Lee called the process of selecting a replacement for Knight messy and said he did not envy the party committees making the decision.
“They are making a big decision,” he said. “It’s a shame the voters didn’t get to decide in the primary who the nominee will be.”
Hendersonville attorney Ron Justice said he submitted an application to the governor’s office to be considered for an appointment to the seat until the November election. He decided against seeking the Republican committee nomination, saying he did not want to serve an 8-year term after working for the past 42 years in the military, as a Hendersonville police officer, in private practice and most recently as an attorney at Henderson County Sheriff’s Office.
Justice also questioned the process of selecting Knight’s replacement.
“Less than 100 people in three counties will decide who will be our judge for eight years,” he said.

Although voters will decide between the nominees from the two major parties in the Nov. 3 general election, those candidates are set to be chosen in closed-door meetings of unelected committee members.
Gov. Roy Cooper in 2018 appointed Knight to the Superior Court vacancy created by the retirement of Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Mark Powell.
Knight brought nearly 10 years of experience as a District Court judge to his appointment on the Superior Court. He previously served as an attorney in private practice in Henderson County and surrounding areas for nearly three decades.
Knight was reelected in 2020 with his term schedule to end in 2028.
Judge Knight has also volunteered his time to various nonprofit and faith-based community organizations, including the YMCA of Henderson County and Grace Lutheran Church. He holds undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Attempts to reach Knight for comment on his retirement were unsuccessful.