Welcome & Ballot Basics

Amanda Benbow Lunn 0:08

Hello friends. Welcome back to the NC Deep Dive. I'm your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn. We're moving on to another episode of our candidate conversations for the 2026 general election, which will have 18 contested races with 46 candidates in southern Wake County, specifically for those in Holly Springs and Fuquay Varena. There are a few other races that have only one candidate running. We will not be including those in our candidate conversations since there is only one choice. Of course, the races on your particular ballot will be different based on your address and the specific districts your residence falls within. You can always find your jurisdictions and eventually your sample ballot by searching NC Voter Search made available by the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Once you get to the page, you'll fill out your information and it will populate with all those who share your name or the information you typed in. You'll just scroll until you find your information and just verify that it is your name and address when you click on it. And then you can scroll down to whatever section you're looking for. There are a lot of races this go around, so your ballot will likely have both a front and a back, so be mindful of that. And if your time is short and you can't listen to the entirety of the episodes, you can go to www.ncdeepdive.com. There you can find transcripts if you'd like to read through, or you can search the various chapter titles for the particular questions that most interest you. For this episode, we are delving into the North Carolina Court of Appeals race or seat two. There are two candidates running for this race, and you will have the opportunity to vote for one of them. The two candidates are George Cooper Bell, affiliated with the Republican Party, and Tobias (Toby) Hampson, who is affiliated with the Democratic Party. Without further ado, my friends, let's dive in.

Toby Hampson: Intro, Why, & Experience

Amanda Benbow Lunn 2:06

On this episode, I'm honored to be speaking with Toby Hampson, who is running for the North Carolina Court of Appeals for seat two. Welcome. If you want to take a few moments, introduce yourself, you can go into why you're running for this office and what experiences have prepared you to serve in this role.

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 2:23

Yeah, well, first of all, thanks, Amanda, for having me on the podcast. It's great to be here. I am Judge Toby Hampson, one of your statewide elected North Carolina Court of Appeals judges. It's been an absolute honor to serve you over the last seven and a half years. And man, I'm so excited to get back to work on the Court of Appeals in Raleigh. You know, I grew up as a lawyer on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. My first job out of law school was as a law clerk to three judges on that court. Clerk Freddie Green, Wanda Bryan, Bob Hunter. Then in private practice, I really focused my career on handling all the kinds of appeals. The North Carolina Court of Appeals here. I spent basically from 2004 through 2018 arguing and practicing in the Court of Appeals. I represented everybody from indigent parents whose parental rights were at risk to complex commercial litigation. I did some municipal practice representing towns and municipalities before the Court of Appeals, injured children, injured workers. So really kind of handled all the kinds of cases. The court peers. In 2007, I joined Wyrick Robbins, where I led the appellate practice on the Court of Appeals. So, you know, I'm certified as a specialist in appeals by the North Carolina State Bar. So, you know, when I ran the first time in 2018, I really ran because I thought I could bring some real hands-on actual court of appeals experience to the job. And over the last seven and a half years, I've authored over 400 opinions on the court, most of which are unanimous and usually bipartisan. So that's a record I'm really proud of. And I'm just really excited to be running for re-election to keep my seat on the court. I love the work of the court. I'm a big nerd. I love the research and writing on that court. So yeah, I think I bring a lot of good experience and passion to the work of the court.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 3:58

Excellent.

Appellate Court Versus Trial Court

Amanda Benbow Lunn 3:59

How is the Court of Appeals different from other courts?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 4:02

You know, the biggest thing about the Court of Appeals, and I mentioned this before, but you know, the work is actually really nerdy. It's a lot of research, it's a lot of writing, right? It's not like watching the trial courts that you see kind of on TV. Most days we don't interact with the general public, we don't interact with lawyers. We decide a lot of cases based on the written arguments of lawyers and sometimes the oral arguments of lawyers. We don't hear new evidence, we don't hear witnesses. We're reviewing what we call the cold record, which is just the transcripts, the documents that were filed in the case, the instructions that were given to a jury by the trial judge. We hear appeals from all 100 counties in North Carolina, civil cases, criminal cases. So it's a wide variety of words. But the bulk of it is research and writing where we're trying to discern whether the trial judge made a mistake in a trial, making sure people got a fair shake in our courts. And then we issue written opinions discussing the arguments that the parties have raised.

What Voters Misunderstand about the Appellate Court

Amanda Benbow Lunn 4:57

What do you believe voters misunderstand about the appellate court?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 5:01

You know, the biggest misunderstanding I get, I get asked all the time, am I in your district? And the reality is if you live in North Carolina, you're in my district. And you know, the North Carolina Court of Appeals decides cases from all 100 counties, you know, civil cases, criminal cases. On the criminal side, it's everything from a DUI up to first degree murder where life in prison is imposed. On the civil side, you name it, we hear it. Everything from family law, business disputes, car accidents, property cases, zoning cases, workers' compensation, administrative cases, cases where people's professional licenses are at risk, parental rights cases. So you name it. We're hearing all kinds of cases on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. So I think that's probably the biggest misconception is the geographical scope, but we are. We are statewide and we're elected in statewide elections.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 5:50

Awesome.

Biggest Issue

Amanda Benbow Lunn 5:51

What do you believe is the most important issue or challenge facing the people you would represent?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 5:56

I think the biggest challenge today is the increasing concern over partisanship and the politicization of our courts, right? I think more and more people are so worried just about whether politics is infecting their courts. And it's so critical that we maintain public confidence and public trust in our judicial system. That when you go to that court, you're gonna get a fair share. You're gonna have access to justice. And knowing that you're gonna have a fair, independent, impartial judge that's gonna listen to your arguments, hear them out, be thoughtful about them, and issue a decision that's based in the law and the facts, and not because of any one political agenda. I think that's the biggest concern people have about our courts.

Priorities & Hopes for Accomplishment

Amanda Benbow Lunn 6:36

If elected, what would you prioritize and what specifically would you hope to accomplish during your term?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 6:41

You know, number one, I really think we have to return our courts to a place where our courts are working for the people and not extreme partisan agendas. We've got to restore public confidence in our courts. We've got to restore confidence in folks to understand that the system is working for them, not against them, that the law is being applied fairly and justly and equitably in their cases. And we've got to improve access to justice, right? Just the sheer cost of going to court is a barrier for so many people. And another reason why folks tend to lose confidence in their courts and lose confidence they're gonna have a fair shake. So I think, you know, from an administration of justice standpoint, I think we've got to continually advocate for better funding of our courts. I think we've got to continually advocate for better funding of legal aid clinics that can help folks get access to justice on the civil side and better funding for our public defenders and appointed lawyers so folks that are facing criminal charges can feel adequately represented by lawyers.

What's Working Well & What Needs Changed

Amanda Benbow Lunn 7:44

What needs improving and what is working well within our judicial system?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 7:49

You know, I think the biggest thing that needs improving is funding. We've got to do a better job of fully funding our courts so that we can provide the constitutional mandate of justice without delay, you know, favor, or denial. And I think that's just so critically important. If we do that, you know, I think that goes a long way to restoring faith in our courts. It allows people to get on with their lives because decisions are being made in a timely fashion and with fully staffed court systems that move people's cases along, which also reduces the cost of litigation because the time in litigation equals money. So if we can be more efficient in dealing with people's cases, it helps restore confidence and it helps people get on with their lives and get the decisions they need. I think the thing that's working best about our courts is the people, the people in the judicial system who were trying every day to find equal justice under the law. And this starts in the trial courts, in the clerk's office, in the bailiffs, in the trial judges, in the DA's offices, in the public defenders' offices. Everyone is really trying their best with what they've got to deliver justice for people all across North Carolina. And I do hope folks have confidence in the people that are trying really, really hard to just do a good job in that court system. And so, you know, if we can get proper funding and adequate funding for our court system, we've got people in place that are trying to do really, really good things to provide good public service and good customer service for folks that are interacting with our legal

Effects of Lack of Funding

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 9:11

system.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 9:11

Could you go into a little more detail on what the lack of funding looks like from a client's perspective? So if somebody is going in there, how could their lives or their cases be improved with more funding?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 9:25

Well, I think a classic example is, you know, you work with your lawyer to prepare for your case, for your day in court. And, you know, your lawyer is spending time and money, your money, right, trying to prepare, take depositions, get discovery, get documents from the other side, collect evidence, collect exhibits. You've got a court date, you've got a calendar date, you show up for court, and there are five to ten other cases in front of you, right? And so what happens? Your case gets continued because there aren't enough judges, there aren't enough courtrooms for your case to get reached. So what happens is then the process kind of starts again and your lawyer's preparing for the case again, and then you go to court. And maybe you get reached, maybe you don't, maybe you get continued. But in the world of the law, as with any other business, right, time equals money. And so the more time something takes, that increases the cost to the litigants. And that's just within the legal costs, right? Understand if you're dealing with issues involving injuries, or if you're dealing with issues involving family and property disputes, right? There's a whole element of loss of time. There's a whole element of loss of money, there's a whole element of increased bills outside the litigation that are related to litigation, whether that's, you know, debt payments, medical bills, travel time, travel costs, or just the emotional cost, right? In a family law case. Perhaps that's time away from your kids, right? And visitation or custody time that you're not getting with your kids. On the criminal defense side, that can be time in pretrial detention, right? You know, that can be time where you're sitting in jail instead of having your case heard, you don't have the opportunity to get before a judge or a jury to have your case heard. So, I mean, that's kind of the real world consequences of delays within the system.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:04

Okay.

How Judges Read Statutes

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:05

What is the proper role of an appellate judge in interpreting statutes?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 11:10

Well, it begins, number one, with the language of the statute, right? At the end of the day, that's what we look to. And that's what every single judge looks to is what does the statute actually say, right? And then from there, you're taking that, reviewing that language of the statute within the context of the facts, within the context of the existing precedent interpreting that statute, and then also just within the procedural context in which the case is coming through, based on what our standard of review is? Do we have an abuse of discretion standard of review which is very deferential to a trial judge? Or do we have what we call de novo standard of review, which basically we can look at the thing anew? We can look at it with fresh eyes and make our own interpretation. And so that's really what governs how we interpret and apply statutes in cases.

Process for Questionable Precedent

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:57

Okay. What should happen when you believe an existing precedent produces an incorrect or unworkable result?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 12:04

Well, that raises a really interesting issue with the North Carolina Court of Appeals. You see, on our court, we're bound by prior precedent of the United States Supreme Court. We're bound by prior precedent of the North Carolina Supreme Court. We're bound by prior precedent of our own court, including three judge panels. So we do not have the authority to overturn prior precedent. However, there are always mechanisms to flag that, right? Or to say, hey, I disagree with this prior precedent. I'm bound by it. I actually wrote, uh, it's kind of a funky Latin term, but uh, we had a case recently where I wrote what I called a concurrence dubitante, where meaning like I concurred, but very doubtful, right? Where I saw a prior decision of our court that I thought wrongly decided the case. But I recognized I was bound by that prior precedent, but wrote a separate concurring opinion to the majority opinion explaining why I thought it was wrong and why I thought the state Supreme Court should take up the issue to resolve that conflict, that precedent, or put us back on the right track. So I think there is a role for it, but our role as an intermediate appellate court is the state court of appeals is very limited in being able to overturn prior precedent.

Judicial Independence Defined

Amanda Benbow Lunn 13:12

Okay. What does judicial independence mean to you?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 13:15

Judicial independence absolutely means, number one, making sure we are striving for that ultimate principle of equal justice under law. It means striving to meet our state constitutional mandate, justice without favor, denial, or delay. Judicial independence means, you know, checking partisan biases on the courthouse steps and going in and simply applying the law to the facts of a case as presented and making a just and equitable decision based on the facts, based on the law, based on the procedure. And beyond that, honestly, it means giving all parties that come before the court a chance to be heard and treating those arguments with respect, with thoughtfulness, and addressing those arguments with a level of seriousness that the parties deserve when they bring really important issues to the court. And through that, we achieve independence. We give the parties a fair shake and we give their arguments a full and thoughtful treatment. And when we do that, that's how we create independence in our judiciary.

Impartiality Defined in Practice

Amanda Benbow Lunn 14:14

Okay. What does impartiality mean in practice?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 14:17

You know, impartiality means listening to both sides. It means giving both sides a full and fair opportunity to litigate their case. It means reviewing the briefs and the arguments of both sides. It means fully addressing the arguments from both sides. It means sitting down and actually thinking about the facts of the case. It means sitting down and actually thinking about the law and how it applies. And, you know, in my view, when we properly interpret the law, when we properly apply the law and apply that to the facts of the case as actually presented, not as we would want the facts to be. That's how we create opinions. That's how we create decisions that are not just good for the parties, but create precedent that actually makes sense in real life.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 15:04

How do you prevent personal beliefs from influencing your interpretation of the law?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 15:08

I you know, number one, it comes down to using the actual language of the law, the language that's been set out, whether it's in constitutional provisions, uh, whether it's in the statutes, whether it's in our prior precedent. And you sort of apply those guardrails and don't allow yourself to kind of rewrite that law, sort of uh reinterpret that law. You know, that gives you the building blocks in which to build a decision that really does allow you to check any personal biases you have. You know, I always joke with my law clerks, like, you know, I mean, I practiced for a long time. I have strong opinions of what I think the law may be or is. I'm definitely at the age where I go to my law clerks and I just say, I know there's a case that says this. And they look at me like I'm crazy, and uh, then they'll go find the law and they'll say, Yep, judge, you're right. There is a case that says something kind of like that. But here's what it actually says. You know, certainly as somebody that's kind of practiced in courts throughout our state and has, you know, handled hundreds of cases, you definitely come in with sort of a preconception of what you think the law may be. But that's why it's so critical to actually go back and look exactly at what the law in fact is.

Judicial Restraint Defined

Amanda Benbow Lunn 16:14

And what does judicial restraint mean to you?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 16:16

You know, judicial restraint is all part and parcel of judicial independence. It's part and parcel of impartiality. Because what judicial restraint is, is answering the question that's before you and not trying to answer the questions you want to answer that are down the road. It's not trying to make wide-reaching decisions that can impact policy issues. It's deciding the case in front of you based on the facts, based on the law, based on the procedure, and not infecting that decision with your own personal or political or ideological beliefs. It's applying the law to the facts, to the procedure. And in some ways, that's very mechanical, but those guardrails are there for a purpose. And those guardrails, you know, keep us as a judicial branch in check, just like we're supposed to keep the other branches of government in check. You know, we're kept in check by the laws passed by the General Assembly and regulations or those kind of things that are enacted by the governor, right? So we sort of have this three-part government where we're all keeping each other in check, you know, and they pass the laws that we interpret and apply. We judge sometimes the constitutionality of those actions. And that's how that system works. And so judicial restraint is definitely about remembering that our job is to apply the law, you know, fairly, justly, and equitably.

Approach to the Responsibilities and Decision-Making Authority of this Office

Amanda Benbow Lunn 17:28

How would you approach the responsibilities and decision-making authority of this particular office?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 17:34

Gosh, humbly, I think is the way to do it. As I've said, the work of the North Carolina Court of Appeals is research-driven, it's writing driven. In some ways, it's a very luxurious job. There's no other job in the law that gives you that ability to really take time to understand the context of the law, you know, why the law developed in a certain way, how a case you're deciding might fit into the bigger fabric, the broader fabric of the law, how the case you're deciding might be interpreted in different communities all across the states, you know, communities big and small and rural, urban, suburban, subural. But at the same time, it's absolutely critical that we decide those cases in a timely fashion. And we get decisions that are well reasoned, well articulated, but are readable and accessible, but issued in a timely fashion so the parties themselves can take that decision and decide what the next steps are, right? And timely decisions so that parties that maybe aren't part of the case but are going to be impacted by that decision can make the calculations they need to make, right? Because, you know, one of the things we need to do in our law is create consistency. Because when we do that, that allows people to make calculated decisions before they ever get to court about how they should resolve a case or how they should set up their business, how they should deal with issues facing their family, their finances, their future, their property. And they can do that when they're able to predict based on consistent precedent we're setting out and when we're doing it in a time

The Appellate Process

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 18:56

fashion.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 18:56

Okay. Could you go into what the structure of the appellate court looks like? And once a person files an appeal, what is the process? The process to be calendared, when you get the case, your process of trying to make the decision. Could you walk us through some of the behind the scenes there?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 19:15

Yeah, absolutely. So the North Carolina Court of Appeals consists of 15 judges. We're all elected statewide. Typically, we sit in three judge panels. So when somebody files an appeal, the first thing they have to do is kind of go to their trial court and get the trial court record, right? Which is just the transcript of a trial or a hearing, all the documents that were filed in the case, any exhibits that were submitted into evidence, right? And kind of compile all that and submit that to our court. Once that's done, each side in the appeal gets the opportunity to file a written brief in our court where they can raise the legal arguments, arguing, you know, what mistakes they think were made at trial, or if you were the winning party, why there were no mistakes made at trial, right? You know, the arguments might be this evidence should not have come in because it was hearsay. Or the trial judge gave a wrong instruction to the jury, or the trial judge should have granted a mistrial because the juror was acting incorrectly or doing something wrong, you know. And so we'll see those kinds of arguments. So each side gets to make their written arguments, and then in a select number of cases, the three-judge panel assigned to hear the case will actually hear oral argument, which is usually two lawyers, each side gets 30 minutes simply to come into court and argue those specific issues that they raised in their brief. And the three judges will ask questions. There'll be back and forth, and each side gets 30 minutes. And it's just a back and forth with the lawyers asking questions about clarifying the facts, asking questions about the law, and even asking questions about, okay, well, if we decide the case this way, what does that mean for future cases? Right? Because we're always thinking about how a decision we impact is going to impact future cases. After arguments, the three judges will go back into what we call conference. We'll take a preliminary vote as to how we think the case should come up. Should we affirm the decision of the trial court? Should we reverse the decision of the trial court? Or should we send it back for further proceedings? From there, one of the judges is assigned to write the opinion. That judge will circulate the opinion after it's drafted. The other two judges then will either get a chance to agree with that opinion, offer some comments or improvements, uh, or dissent if they disagree. Or they can write separately and say, I agree, but for a different reason. And so that's how you end up with opinions that are concurring opinions or dissenting opinions. But then once we've got all that together, we file the opinion. That's a written opinion. We issue opinions usually twice a month. I think it's the first and third Wednesdays of each month, and you can find all of our written opinions on the nccourts.gov website. You can actually go see all of the oral arguments that happened before our courts on our YouTube channel. So you really can access our courts in a way that does provide some transparency. You can see judges and oral argument and you can read our written decisions right there on the website.

Role of Real World Consequences in Decision Making

Amanda Benbow Lunn 21:55

What role, if any, should the real world consequences of a ruling play? In appellate decision making?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 22:02

It should not necessarily drive the decision-making process, but my judicial philosophy is very much that when we do apply the law correctly, when we interpret the law correctly, that it should make sense in the real world. And that reminds me as a lawyer, there was a case I handled that I represented a grandmother out of Columbus County in Chadburn. And her daughter had died in a single car accident, leaving behind a little boy. The grandmother was the only parental figure this little boy had ever known. But after his mother died, his father and his father's family came in and they filed for custody of the little boy. There was a trial in Columbus County. And at the end of the trial, the trial judge awarded full custody to dad with no custody, no visitation rights, no nothing to my client, the grandmother, and looked at my client and said, ma'am, I'm sorry. This isn't real life. It's the law. And that really stuck with me. And I took that case on appeal to the North Carolina Court of Appeals and got the decision reversed and sent back to the trial court, right? On the basis that, no, dad hadn't done anything like physically horrible to the child. But by not being a part of the child's life, he'd sort of given over some of his responsibilities, his parental responsibilities and duties and therefore rights to grandmother. And so when the case went back, the trial judge was actually able then to craft a custody arrangement where grandmother had custody of the little boy. Dad was given visitation, opportunity to visit and spend time with his son, and then actually create increased visitation over time as he developed a relationship with his son. And to me, there's a result following the law that makes sense in the real world. So that's sort of one of those personal stories that's definitely informed how I look at cases as a judge on the Court of Appeals.

Deciding What Takes Precedence

Amanda Benbow Lunn 23:47

When priorities compete or resources are limited, how would you decide what takes precedence?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 23:52

For me, as I look at our caseload, and it's a heavy caseload and continues to increase. The way I approach cases, number one, I start with cases and opinions that are involving children and parental rights. Those take absolute precedence because obviously the life of a child is going on while these cases are pending, right? And those are really, really important. Also criminal cases where you've got folks whose liberty has been taken away and they're in prison, uh, serving a sentence or under the weight of a probationary sentence. And so it's really important we make sure they're getting their day in court and those cases decided efficiently. So those are the cases that take priority in my chambers for sure.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 24:28

What is the timeline like that those cases persist?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 24:32

So, you know, most appeals to our court generally, you know, I think from time of filing notice of appeal to the trial court to getting the record together, to getting your briefs, to getting the case heard, argued, and decided, you know, it usually takes somewhere around a year in those cases. Now, once a case is heard, we have internal guidelines in the court. You know, once we've heard a parental rights case where somebody's parental rights are being terminated, we try to turn those decisions around within 30 days of hearing case. In other cases, we try to turn all those other cases around within 90 days of hearing case. So we do try to keep the process moving on the court once we kind of have control of the case and we're the one, you know, that we have the case before us for a decision. But, you know, again, it's a process. And so that's part of why we have to really balance making sure we're deciding cases clearly and doing a good job in our reasoning and written opinions, but also getting those cases decided in an efficient manner.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 25:26

And you mentioned that you work in panels of three. How is that decided? Are you always working with the same two people or does it swap around?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 25:35

It rotates, it swaps around. We're ultimately the chief judge of the court assigns the panels, but we do have a requirement that we sit as equally as practical with all the other judges on the court. So we're sort of constantly rotating in those panels so that way, you know, there's no judge shopping, you know, nobody's trying to get a particular panel and you know, everyone's kind of rotating around. So we get kind of a variety of judges we sit with, which is always great to get that different kind of experience and different viewpoints on these panels.

Accountability: What & How

Amanda Benbow Lunn 26:02

And what should voters hold you accountable for if you're elected and how?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 26:06

Well, number one, they should hold us accountable for the written decisions we're issuing. Are they true to the law? Are they true to the facts? Are they applying the law in a fair and independent and impartial fashion? And are we doing it in as efficient manner as practical, right? And so at the end of the day, I hope people leave our court and people think of me as somebody that's giving them a fair shake, that's hearing them out. As a lawyer on the other side of the podium in the Court of Appeals, I always just said, you know, I just want to be heard. You know, I may not win the case, but if the judges will at least hear my argument, hear me out, and then can provide a reasoned decision. You know, I may not always agree with the decision, but if I can understand where the judge is coming from, where the decision's coming from, how it's grounded in the law, how it applies to the facts, you know, then I've done my job as a lawyer and we're providing justice for people in North Carolina.

Last Thoughts

Amanda Benbow Lunn 26:55

As we wrap up, do you have any last thoughts? Is there anything we haven't discussed that you would like voters to know, or anything from our conversation that you'd like to expand upon or clarify?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 27:05

Well, you know, I think the biggest thing I want folks to know is I grew up in Moore County mostly down around Carthage, I'm a product of North Carolina public schools like uh Sand Hills Farm Life in Union Pines. Graduated from the School of Science and Math in Durham. Yeah, my mom actually taught math at Sand Hills Community College in Southern Pines. So you know she was really disappointed in me when I ended up going to law school. But yeah, graduated from Campbell University School of Law and live here in Raleigh with my three daughters and my wife Kristen, who's a practicing lawyer and small business owner here. So I think we experience a lot of the same issues and things people are dealing with. And I think it's really important to bring that kind of real world experience to the courts.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 27:41

And for

Where to Learn More

Amanda Benbow Lunn 27:42

voters who want to learn more about you, your platform, your campaign endorsements, and priorities, where can they go to find that information?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 27:49

Well, you can always go on any of my social media platforms on uh TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. You can even find some of my videos where I cook and talk about some of the issues with the courts and make dinner for the kids while I'm doing it. But so maybe the best place to go is judgetobyhampson.com.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 28:05

Perfect. And you mentioned earlier where we could find your opinions and dissents and records. Where is that again?

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 28:11

Yep. Uh the website is nccourts.gov. And then you can specifically find all levels of courts, including our state Supreme Court and North Carolina Court of Appeals, through that website. You can find our opinions, links to our argument calendar, and also links to the YouTube channel where you can actually watch the Oral arguments, both live streamed and recorded.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 28:31

Perfect. Well, thank you so much, Toby, for taking the time to speak with me and all of our listeners today. I appreciate you trusting me to do this work, and I wish you the best of luck in your campaign.

Tobias (Toby) Hampson 28:41

Well, thank you, and thank you for this conversation. It's been great. I appreciate it.

Closing Reflections & Voting Info

Amanda Benbow Lunn 28:46

Democracy is built on participation. Politics can sometimes feel distant or abstract, but the decisions made by our elected officials at the county, state, and federal levels have a profound effect on the communities we call home and the way we live our lives. From the roads we drive on and the schools our children attend to public safety, parks and recreation, housing, health care, taxes, the economy, and the many other services and amenities that make up our communities, government plays a role in shaping both our everyday experience and our future. That makes taking the time to understand the choices on your ballot and the people asking for your vote an important part of being an engaged member of your community. Early voting for the 2026 midterm election begins October 15th and runs through October 31st. In Southern Wake County, there will be early voting locations at the Hunt Center in Holly Springs, the Hilltop Needmore Town Park Clubhouse in Fuquay Varina, Beech Bluff County Park, and Southern Wake Tech Campus close by. Election Day is November 3rd. A general reminder that you will need a valid photo ID to vote, the regular voter registration deadline is October 9th, although you may still register when you vote during the early voting period. Please note that you cannot register to vote on Election Day itself, and that that day you will absolutely have to vote at your designated precinct location to have access to your full ballot. And because there are so many races and ballot measures this year, your ballot will likely be double-sided. It can be helpful to start on the back so that you don't accidentally overlook anything. You'll vote for the races that apply to your jurisdiction along with statewide amendments and for Southern Wake County voters, local Wake County bond referenda. Voting is one of the ways we take part in the communities we share. You don't have to agree with your neighbors or even with the candidates you've heard here to recognize that our communities are shaped by the people who show up, ask questions, learn about the choices before them, and cast their ballots. So please take the time to get informed, make your voice heard, and encourage the people around you to do the same. Your vote matters, your voice matters, and you absolutely matter, my friend. And with that, this episode of the NC Deep Dive has come to an end. Please feel free to check out this episode's show notes at ncdeepdive.com for further information and relevant links for this candidate along with general election information. As always, if you have any topics or thoughts you'd like to share, you can find us on social media or email us at ncdeepdive at gmail.com. If you found value in this episode, I'd love for you to subscribe, rate, and share it so that others may more easily be informed. Please make sure to stay tuned for all the relevant candidate, amendment, and referenda episodes for the 2026 midterm election by visiting ncdeepdive.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you currently listen to your podcast. Until next time, my friends, Namaste: The Love and Light in me sees and honors the love and light in you.