2026 General Election: November 3, 2026. New info launches early October.
Elizabeth Thornton Trosch
Party:
Democrat
Incumbent:
No
Age:
Approximately 50
Previous experience in elected office:
District Court Judge (2009-present)
Occupation:
District court judge
Description:
Trosch was most recently reelected to District Court in 2024 and is currently running for Superior Court. She says she has helped make Mecklenburg County courts "a national model in procedural fairness and evidence backed court practices." She previously served as Chief District Court judge, a role tasked with keeping the court dockets organized and on time. She was commended by other local judges for her "collaborative style" during Covid.
Other personal:
Trosch is married and the mother of three boys. She served as an assistant public defender prior to becoming a judge. She has a B.A. from Hollins College and a JD from Wake Forest University.
Review of Candidate Rulings (Source: Wake Forest School of Law Pro Bono Project)
Trosch has served as a Mecklenburg County District Court judge since 2005, with much of her work focused on family law, juvenile matters, and cases involving parental rights. Publicly available appellate decisions have affirmed several of her rulings, including decisions involving juvenile and family law proceedings. Her judicial experience includes work within North Carolina's "one judge, one family" model, which assigns related family matters to judges with specialized experience. A review of appellate decisions identified three cases in which Judge Trosch's orders were at least partially reversed on appeal.