FILE - Judge Sam J. Ervin IV makes a statement during the North Carolina Supreme Court Candidate Forum in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014. Upcoming primaries for state supreme court seats in North Carolina and Arkansas are putting the spotlight on how such races across the U.S. have grown in importance and partisanship in recent years. In North Carolina, Republicans are targeting Democratic Supreme Court Justice Ervin IV, whose grandfather presided over the Watergate hearings in the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File) FILE PHOTO
