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CHARLOTTE (AP) - Associate Justice Bob Edmunds edged out Suzanne Reynolds for a seat on the state Supreme Court Tuesday night, winning a race that maintains a Republican edge on the bench despite the fact that partisanship was not a factor.

With 98 percent of the precincts reporting unofficial returns, Edmunds had 51 percent of the vote, compared to nearly 49 percent for Reynolds, who is a Democrat.

The Legislature removed party affiliations from the ballot for judicial candidates in 2004. But there are currently four registered Republicans and three Democrats on the court. Had Reynolds won, she would have given Democrats a majority on the high bench for the first time since 1998.

Both Edmunds, seeking a second eight-year term, and Reynolds, a Wake Forest law professor, downplayed their political affiliations. Reynolds is a civil law attorney who has touted her academic background and family law experience. Edmunds is a former Court of Appeals judge and former state prosecutor who has stressed his experience in criminal cases.

There were also five contested Court of Appeals seats on the ballot. The 15-member court hears challenges to trial court proceedings in three-judge panels, and their opinions can be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

On the state Court of Appeals, challenger Cheri Beasley defeated Judge Douglas McCullough of Atlantic Beach with 57 percent of the vote.

McCullough, a former federal prosecutor and retired Marine Corps reserves officer, pleaded guilty in early 2007 to a driving while impaired charge. He was reprimanded by the Judicial Standards Commission.

Another challenger, Bob Hunter of Morehead City, defeated Judge John Arrowood of Charlotte, who was appointed to the court by Gov. Mike Easley in August 2007 and who was seeking a full term. Hunter captured 53 percent of the vote.

Hunter, a former State Board of Elections chairman, is not related to Judge Bob Hunter of McDowell County, who is already on the Court of Appeals. Arrowood is the first openly gay person in a statewide elective office in North Carolina.

In other Court of Appeals races:

- Judge Jim Wynn, who first joined the court in 1990 and served on the state Supreme Court in 1998, defeated attorney Jewel Ann Farlow of Gibsonville with 54 percent of the vote.

- Judge Linda Stephens of Raleigh captured 58 percent of the vote in her victory over Dan Barrett of Advance, a 2004 GOP primary candidate for governor. Stephens earned a full eight-year term with the victory.

- State Utilities Commission member Sam Ervin IV of Morganton took 53 percent of the vote in defeating Wake County District Court Judge Kristin Ruth. They were competing for the judgeship held by Judge John Tyson, who lost in the primary.

Court of Appeals Chief Judge John Martin was running unopposed for re-election.