Dec 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted in favor of two federal prosecutors in North Carolina joining the federal bench as trial judges, including a former clerk to conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas whose views on abortion and the death penalty have spurred Democratic opposition.

The Republican-led Senate voted 53-45 to confirm David Bragdon to serve as a life-tenured judge in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina and 60-39 in favor of Lindsey Ann Freeman who was appointed to the same court.

The votes increased the number of judges confirmed during President Donald Trump's second term to 21, building on the 234 appointments he made in his first term that helped shift the judiciary to the right.

Bragdon had been the appellate chief at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, while Freeman most recently served as second-in-command at the Middle District's U.S. Attorney's Office.