Judge Jefferson Griffin and Justice Allison Riggs (Courtesy photos)
Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin leads incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs by a razor-thin margin in the contest to fill an associate justice seat on the state Supreme Court.
The Associated Press has not called the race, but with all precincts reporting this morning, Griffin had 50.09% of the vote to Riggs’ 49.91% for a gap of 9,851 votes out of nearly 5.5 million cast, according to the State Board of Elections.
On Wednesday, the Riggs campaign issued a statement in which it said the race is “too close to call” and that it is “closely monitoring the count of votes.”
“Every voice and every vote matters in this election,” Embry Owen, campaign manager, said. “We are monitoring the counting of all votes across the state, including absentee ballots and provisional ballots, and we will know more about our next steps in the days ahead.”
If Griffin’s lead holds, it will give him an eight-year term on the high court and provide Republicans with a commanding 6-1 majority on the state’s highest court and all but assures that the GOP will maintain dominance of the court for years to come. Democrats had targeted this race in hopes it would lead to reclaiming a majority on the court before the 2030 legislative and congressional redistricting process — a process that almost invariably is subject to judicial review.
Griffin is an army veteran who began his legal career in private practice before joining the Wake County District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor. He has also served as a District Court Judge in Wake County.
Griffin, whose campaign website identifies him as an adherent to the conservative judicial concepts of originalism and textualism, accused Riggs during the campaign of advancing a liberal agenda through the courts and violating judicial conduct rules.
During the campaign, Riggs did not shy away from explicitly expressing her support for abortion rights or how she would vote if the issue came before the court. She also released a campaign ad in which she said she will protect abortion rights, prompting critics from her opponent’s camp to charge that she was in violation of the state’s Judicial Code of Conduct. Griffin faced criticisms from his opponent for claiming racial bias does not exist in the criminal justice system.
Election night results are unofficial and vote totals will likely change over the coming days as local boards of election consider provisional, military, and overseas civilian ballots. The state Board of Elections is scheduled to meet Nov. 26 to certify the results.