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Republicans creating crowded field in Gaston County judge's race

Gaston Gazette - 10/7/2021

A Gulf War veteran and former assistant prosecutor now working in private practice wants to become Gaston County's next elected Superior Court judge.

Eddie Meeks, 43, also can claim a local connection to Gaston County, having graduated from Hunter Huss High School and Belmont Abbey College. He emphasized his Gaston County connections in announcing his plans to seek the Republican nomination.

"I think it takes knowing the community, and I grew up here, to be a right fit to be a judge here," Meeks said.

Meeks expects to face at least two other Republicans in a March primary for the party's nomination.

In addition to his experience in the Navy, Meeks spent five years in the Gaston County District Attorney's Office as an assistant prosecutor. He has been in private practice, with an office in Gastonia, for about 10 years.

Other Republicans who have announced their intentions of running include Justin Davis, a member of the Gaston County school board, and Beth Stockwell, a current assistant prosecutor in the District Attorney's Office.

Superior Court judicial races have not been contested in more than a decade in Gaston County.

All three have their eyes set on the seat now held by current Superior Court Judge Jesse Caldwell IV, who was appointed to the bench in June after his father, Jesse Caldwell III, reached mandatory retirement age in May.

The elder Caldwell had been a Superior Court judge in Gaston County for 28 years, and remained just one of three elected Democrats in a Republican-leaning county that gave former President Donald Trump more than 63% of the vote in 2020.

The other two elected Democrats in Gaston County are Sheriff Alan Cloninger, who announced he does not plan to seek re-election in 2022, and Superior Court Judge David Phillips, whose eight-year term does not end until 2026.

Judge Caldwell, 36, has also said he will seek election to a full, eight-year term in November 2022.

You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or email him at kellis@gastongazette.com.

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