North Carolina › Wayne County › NC District Court Judge, District 9, Seat 1 (Greene, Lenoir, Wayne)
2 candidates are tracked for NC District Court Judge, District 9, Seat 1 (Greene, Lenoir, Wayne) on the November 3, 2026 ballot: Sonya Davis and Roy A. Dawson. Candidate information follows official Wayne County election filings; verify with the official election office linked below.
Incumbent Sonya Davis, appointed by Governor Josh Stein in 2025, faces Roy A. Dawson in the November 3, 2026 general election, per the NC State Board of Elections' certified candidate listing.
Sonya Davis was appointed to the District 9 (Greene, Lenoir, Wayne) district court bench by Governor Josh Stein in 2025, filling the vacancy left by Judge Beth Heath's retirement, per the Office of the Governor. She previously operated her own law practice in Kinston focused on domestic law, real estate transactions and criminal defense, after earning her bachelor's and law degrees from North Carolina Central University. No campaign website or questionnaire response was found as of September 8, 2026; the official election filing is the only verifiable source for Sonya Davis.
Roy A. Dawson is a trial attorney who has practiced in the 9th Judicial District since 2014, splitting his caseload between criminal and family law, and opened his own Kinston practice, the Law Offices of Roy A. Dawson, P.A., in 2021, per his campaign site. Before law school he worked in manufacturing, die casting, restaurants and food distribution; he earned an associate degree from Alamance Community College and his law degree from UNC School of Law, where he volunteered with the Innocence Project.
2026 priorities (per the campaign site)
- Make the courtroom a place where people are heard and treated with dignity
- Prioritize preparation, fairness and humility in judicial decision-making
- Improve court accessibility and consistency in proceedings
Source: candidate campaign site.
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