Welcome & Ballot Basics

Amanda Benbow Lunn 0:08

Hello, friends, welcome back to the NC Deep Dive. I'm your host, Amanda Benbow Lunn, and this episode features yet another of our candidate conversations for the 2026 general election. It looks like we'll have about 18 contested races with 46 candidates touching Southern Wake County, specifically Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina. There are a few other races that have only one candidate running, but we will not be including those within this segment. Of course, the races on your particular ballot will vary based on your address and the specific districts your residence falls within. You can always find your jurisdictions and 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. It will populate with all those who share your name or the information that you provided. You'll scroll until you find you, click on it, and just verify your name and address are correct. Then you can scroll down to the appropriate sections you're looking for. Since there are so many races along with the constitutional amendments and bond referenda, your ballot will have a front and a back. Keep in mind if your time is short, you can see each episode's transcripts at www.ncdeepdive.com to skim through, or you can search the episode's chapter titles for the particular topics that we discuss. For this episode, we are delving into the North Carolina District Court Judge Race for District 10D, seat two. The candidates include Amalia Mercedes Restucha of the Democratic Party and J. Brian Ratledge of the Republican Party. You will have the opportunity to vote for one of them. Without further ado, my friends, let's dive in.

A. Mercedes Restucha: Intro, Why, & Experience

Amanda Benbow Lunn 2:00

On this episode, I am pleased to be speaking with Mercedes Restucha, who is running for the North Carolina District Court for District 10D seat two. Welcome, Mercedes. Pleasure to have you on. You want to take a few moments to introduce yourself and then you can go into why you're running for this office and what experiences have prepared you to serve in this role.

A. Mercedes Restucha 2:23

Thank you. I'm so glad to be here today. I am running for district court judge because there are very few Latina judges in the country, let alone in North Carolina. And so I work as an assistant attorney general and represent the AG's office at different community events and advocacy meetings. And I was at one of these meetings one week and you know, we were discussing things and people were getting a little bit frustrated. And you know, the words came out of my mouth was we need people to run for office. And I've been hearing that in community groups my entire life. And so when I heard that coming out of my mouth, it was like getting hit with a brick, I was like, I need to run for office. I have the resources, I have the network and legal experience, and it made sense to run for judge. I have practiced civil and criminal law, which is present in district court. I've represented plaintiffs and defendants, and I've appeared at all levels of court in our state. And that's why I think I am going to be able to bring a really well-rounded approach to the bench. All right, perfect.

What District Court Actually Does

Amanda Benbow Lunn 3:25

What do you believe is the most important responsibility of a district court judge?

A. Mercedes Restucha 3:30

I think the most important part for being a judge is to make sure the people that are before me feel that they're being heard and allowing them to present their evidence and make their arguments without thinking that my decision has already been made. I want them to know that I've got an open mind. And I think it's important for judges to keep an open mind. And at the same time, applying the law equally and as it's written, and making sure that people know what to expect when coming into the court. And I will also add efficiency. I think making sure that you keep decisions coming out. People, in especially in things like family law, can often have to wait a really long time for the decisions in those cases. And that is hard on the families. It's hard on everybody involved. And so making sure kind of be efficient in getting those opinions out.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 4:16

Okay. And could you tell us a little bit about what types of cases district court sees?

A. Mercedes Restucha 4:22

Yeah, absolutely. It's a lot. District court has criminal misdemeanors primarily. So you're thinking a lot of driving while under the influence, simple assaults, a lot of motor vehicle, situ, you know, driving without a license, expired tags usually don't get before a district court judge, but things like that. And then we have family law. So we've got equitable distribution, child custody. There's a juvenile court which handles juvenile criminal matters. There's abuse, neglect, and dependency in parental rights uh cases. There's civil law when the claims are less than $25,000. And I think that's about it. I might have lost track. There's a lot. And I'm actually really looking forward to learning all these areas of law. That when I first came out of law school, I did some criminal misdemeanor. I was on the court-appointed list. And so I've got my toes wet in that arena, but I'm looking forward to, you know, learning and staying busy and being able to learn the law in that much detail.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 5:24

Okay. And is district court a trial court or is that something that's different?

A. Mercedes Restucha 5:29

It is a trial court, but I will say that jury trials are not really they're possible, but they're very, very, very rare. So in district court, the judge is the finder of fact and makes the final decision under the law. And so we hear evidence presented, there's the witnesses, and yeah, it's a trial court.

What Is Misunderstood by Voters

Amanda Benbow Lunn 5:48

Okay, perfect. What do you believe voters misunderstand about district court's role?

A. Mercedes Restucha 5:52

I think that voters probably think that judges have a lot more discretion than they do. You know, the law is written and it can be quite specific sometimes. And our duty as judges is not to make policies or do things because this is how we want them to be. We have to enforce the laws as they're written by the General Assembly, which can be tricky, but that's the job. Okay.

Biggest Issue

Amanda Benbow Lunn 6:15

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

A. Mercedes Restucha 6:21

Oh, district court is the court where most of us are most likely to encounter. Again, it's family law, it's divorces, it's equitable distribution, it's simple assaults and driving violations. So it's it's a common court to appear before. I think people are nervous when they come to court. Obviously, something not necessarily good is happening 95% of the time. And so I hope to be able to, you know, calm their nerves and make them feel as comfortable as they can in those types of settings. You know, I think again, efficiency of the court is paramount. It's very under-resourced. And so people have to wait a long time. Their cases get continued because people don't show up. And so trying to make sure things are moving accordingly. And then I guess another thing, a lot of people don't have access to legal services. There's criminal misdemeanor. So if you are looking at having a period of incarceration for a year or more, you'll get assigned a public defender if you want to, or you can have a right to counsel. But for most civil cases, there's not any kind of free attorney. And so it's a lot of people are appearing in the court what we call pro se. They're representing themselves and they just don't understand the procedure because it's complicated. Even some lawyers don't understand the procedure sometimes. And so making sure that those folks can get connected with the resources that are available to them. And as a judge, I hope not to, I hope that I can make without representing them or giving them legal advice, which I can't do, but I hope to make sure that they are able to present their case, right? And that I can hear their argument, even if it's not as polished as uh, you know, an attorney is would be.

Priorities & Hopes for Accomplishment

Amanda Benbow Lunn 7:57

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

A. Mercedes Restucha 8:03

So I have it would be a four-year term. And I think I would prioritize getting up to speed in all these areas of law. So, you know, most uh district court judges will often come from either being a public defender or a district attorney or a family lawyer. So they've kind of got half the knowledge that they need. Um and so I admittedly don't have that, but I I am a quick quick study. And so I'm for me, I'm I'm gonna prioritize getting up to speed on the on the law, um, learning how to use this e-court system and making sure I'm as efficient as possible in the decision making. That's for uh what I would prioritize in myself. What I for others, I you know, as a community, I think, you know, addressing issues like mental health are probably some of the more important things that we need to be looking at. Um we can't it's again, judges don't really do great policies. I can't, there's not really like a top policy issue that I uh want to could really work under. Uh, but I will say that in Mecklenburg County, they have a drop-in child care center on site at the courthouse, which is very useful for people that are parents that might might be in family proceedings or there might, you know, might have a criminal proceeding going on. And it's in the courtrooms are not appropriate for children. And so I think it'd be really interesting, and I think it probably would take some time and a lot of resources, but it'd be interesting to try to see if we couldn't do something like that in Wade County. It's kind of a pipe, kind of a pipe dream. I use I used to represent the division of child development and early education, which is the division that licenses daycares. And so, you know, as a working mom, uh I just think it's important to be able to make sure that the parents have resources when they have to do things that they can't bring their kids to.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 9:44

Okay.

What Is Working Well & What Needs Improving

Amanda Benbow Lunn 9:45

What is working well and what needs improving in our district court specifically or in our judicial system at large?

A. Mercedes Restucha 9:52

Oh, what's working well? I think we already hit on what could use some improvement. And I think a big thing that could be improved is our inability to talk about diversity and inclusion and implicit bias, uh, which was trainings that were being provided earlier, and we were doing a good job under uh previous uh administrations, uh, but we've now kind of been kind of prohibited by sta uh by statute to discuss those things in those clear terms. Right. I think some people should try to work around it, but uh, making sure that judges and even you know district attorneys and public defenders and and lawyers in general are getting the training that they need in implicit bias. Um we are all biased. It's the implicit part, right? As being as aware as you can be and making sure it's not affecting your day-to-day decisions that you have to make.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 10:38

Okay.

Balancing Consistency Amongst Individual Circumstances

Amanda Benbow Lunn 10:39

How should a judge balance consistency in applying the law with the individual circumstances of the people appearing before the court?

A. Mercedes Restucha 10:47

Yeah, that's a tricky question. I'm gonna find out, right? I think a lot of questions about judges, since I haven't been a judge, I'm gonna learn on the job. And I think to be frank with you, I think the General Assembly has already done that to a certain extent because we have very kind of strict guidelines when it comes to sentencing structures. And I think I'd consider all the factors and try to apply them equally across the board. I being new to the office, I would probably consult with other judges to make sure to understand, you know, what the standard is and what they would suggest as you know, an example would be for like equitable distribution and what their thoughts are would be on how to divvy up resources and things of that sort. I think I'd count on them and also you know, just previous decisions that have been made in case law and just making sure that it is being held, you know, consistently across the board.

Communicating with Those Unknowledgeable about the Legal System

A. Mercedes Restucha 11:34

Amanda Benbow Lunn 11:34

Okay. How should judges communicate with people who have little or no understanding of the legal system?

A. Mercedes Restucha 11:40

Oh, kindly. Yeah, at the end of the day, I think that's the majority of folks that are appearing before us. And so I think the way that judges should communicate is as I like to say to my little girl, we have two ears and two eyes for a reason and one mouth, right? We have to listen more and observe more and then speak. And so I think the communication, we mean just making sure we're listening to the people that are before us and letting them make an argument, just making sure people feel that they're being heard. And I certainly hope that in the decisions that I'm making, that even if the outcome isn't what the person wanted, they'll understand the basis of my decision. So on that note, explaining why I'm coming to the decision that I'm coming.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 12:21

Okay.

Impartiality Defined in Practice

Amanda Benbow Lunn 12:22

What does judicial impartiality mean in practice?

A. Mercedes Restucha 12:26

It means applying the law accordingly and you know being aware of those implicit biases that we have and making sure that we're treating the people that come before us equally. Yeah.

Balancing Time Management & Adequate Attention

Amanda Benbow Lunn 12:35

How should judges balance efficient management of a crowded docket with giving each case appropriate attention?

A. Mercedes Restucha 12:41

That's a good question. I'm gonna find out. I think we should obviously prioritize making sure each case gets its attention as opposed to kind of rubber stamping and not making sure, again, that the people have the opportunity to make their case and be heard. That being said, it's it's a lot, you know, there's a lot of case, there's you know, hundreds of cases a day in certain courts. And so going back to making sure that I have the standard procedure and a lot of the decisions are already made, it's just applying them, and there's not as much discretion, like I said, as one would think. So making sure I'm clear on the law and make it sure things run efficiently, and then when things pop up, making sure people have the time to be heard and don't feel like they're being rushed along.

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

Amanda Benbow Lunn 13:22

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

A. Mercedes Restucha 13:28

I would be reading a lot. Honestly, there's so many resources out there when it comes to learning the law. And for what it's worth, about a year or so back, I went to a judicial academy for aspiring judges at the National Judicial College out in Nevada. It's like kind of leading kind of education arm for the judiciary, a week intensive of all the different things that we had taken into consideration as judges, ethics and things of that sort. But when it comes to you know, the actual day-to-day work of the law, it's gonna be our UNC School of Government is amazing with the resources that they provide. They've got all sorts of guidances. We have bench books, and my colleagues, I hope, I'm sure, would be willing to help. And then just regular case law, you know, going and reading wow what the decisions have been determined in the past and the statute itself.

Funding, Mental Health, And Prevention

A. Mercedes Restucha 14:17

Yeah.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 14:17

You mentioned earlier about a lack of funding. What do you see in our judicial system here in North Carolina in regards to funding? How does it affect the litigants? How does it affect the people that would be coming before you? And how does it affect your caseload and or the court system in general?

A. Mercedes Restucha 14:38

I know that we are underfunded when it comes to district attorneys. Uh, we don't have that, and probably the same goes for uh public defenders. We don't have enough of those attorneys to cover, so they've got large caseloads as well. And when we think of being underfunded, the automatic solution to that is not necessarily providing a lot more funding. It could be more in line with finding ways to kind of avoid cases coming to court in the first place. And so I think when I say that, I think of things like our, you know, our jails have become our largest mental health provider. And so if we were to actually invest money in proper community services and peer supports and things of that nature, I think it would prevent a lot of the cases that are coming before us. Same goes with some of our driving offenses, right? If we make those a little bit more administrative and dealt by the DMB. Those are, again, there's kind of policy decisions that I don't get to make. Also, when it comes to family court, you know, teaching people the concept of collaborative law and making sure that, you know, that you don't have to litigate every issue, right? Like it's conflict resolution in a way that avoids taking things to court and making everything very litigious.

Deciding What Takes Precedence

Amanda Benbow Lunn 15:43

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

A. Mercedes Restucha 15:50

Yeah. That's at the end of the day, it's the deadline. And if somebody were an imminent threat to their physical safety, that immediately kind of I would believe would probably get bumped to the very top of any decisions that are before me. But I think I like to use my email as kind of a to-do list and just addressing things then and there as much as possible, but then, you know, making sure that, you know, unless there's some sort of reason to hear a case or make a decision in a case before the one that comes behind it or after it, right? I just think making sure that you're doing things sequentially and kind of making keeping tight deadlines and things of that sort.

Accountability: What & How

Amanda Benbow Lunn 16:24

What should voters hold you accountable for if you are elected and how?

A. Mercedes Restucha 16:28

Well, I think the how is is re-electing me, right? And also, you know, there's things like motions for reconsideration and there's the Judicial Standards Commission that people can file complaints against judges if they feel like they're not upholding their ethical code. I don't hope people file any any complaints against me, but if hopefully people will feel comfortable enough with me to be able to come and approach me, depending on if there's a pending case, maybe at hearing. So we avoid ex parte communications, but feel free to approach me and kind of explain their grievance, and I would be able to hear it in a way that they would feel heard. And I can't remember the first part of your question. I'm sorry.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 17:02

What should voters hold you accountable for?

A. Mercedes Restucha 17:04

Right. Applying the law equally and being fair.

Last Thoughts

Amanda Benbow Lunn 17:08

And 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?

A. Mercedes Restucha 17:19

I would say at the beginning, I didn't go into too much detail about myself personally. So I am actually a Raleigh native. I grew up here in Wick County, and my parents are immigrated from Argentina and Uruguay, and they're very hard-working small business owners, and that's where I feel like I've developed a very strong work ethic that I hope to be able to serve the community that I grew up in. And going back to being in a group of Latino youth, if I don't win this seat come January, there won't be any Latina judges on the bench in Wake County. Excuse me, in North Carolina. So there has been one in the history of Wake County that has retired, and then one out in Mecklenburg County that recently lost the primary, so she's not going to be serving into the new year. And you know, we have a couple of judges in eastern North Carolina, men, Latino men, that are on the bench, but there'd be none. Why I think that is important is the bench should reflect the community that it's serving. I don't think it would so much influence the decisions that I'm making as much as I would be able to see things from a different perspective based on different life experiences, right? And give people more understanding given you know shared backgrounds.

Where to Learn More

A. Mercedes Restucha 18:29

Amanda Benbow Lunn 18:29

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

A. Mercedes Restucha 18:36

They can go to electmercedes.com is my website, or on Instagram, it's Mercedes for Judge. And then Facebook, it's elect Mercedes for Wake County District Court Judge, is a very long one for Facebook.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 18:50

And is that the number for or spelling out for?

A. Mercedes Restucha 18:54

The spelling out of four.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 18:55

All right, perfect.

A. Mercedes Restucha 18:56

Yeah, Mercedes for Judge on Instagram is probably the that's the one I use primarily and then it it links to Facebook.

Amanda Benbow Lunn 19:02

All right, awesome. Well, thank you so much, Mercedes, for taking the time out of your night to speak with me and to speak with voters directly. I appreciate you taking that time and putting that trust into me to do this. And I wish you the best of luck with your campaign.

A. Mercedes Restucha 19:15

Thank you so much. It was my pleasure. Thanks for the invite.

Closing Reflections & Voting Info

Amanda Benbow Lunn 19:19

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.