Last week U.S. District Court Judge Catherine Eagles ordered North Carolina to hold 2018 primaries for State Supreme Court and State Court of Appeals judges. This lawsuit was in response to a 2017 North Carolina law that eliminated such primaries, for 2018 only. North Carolina judicial elections are partisan. North Carolina Democratic Party v Berger. There are four statewide judicial races in 2018.

On February 7, the state filed this brief asking the Fourth Circuit to stay the U.S. District Court’s decision. Time is running short in this case because the primary is in May and the filing period for the primary is this month. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.