Democracy was gasping for air in North Carolina as Republicans tried to steal a state Supreme Court seat, but now, it's over. Republican Jefferson Griffin finally conceded the North Carolina Supreme Court race Wednesday to Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs after six months and two recounts. Griffin challenged 60,273 legal North Carolina voters—registered voters who showed ID to early vote in the November 2024 election, including military members serving overseas. Still, a Trump-appointed Judge wasn't having it.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers ruled that Griffin, a judge on the state Court of Appeals, cannot “change the rules of the game after it had been played.”
Griffin wasn't happy with the ruling, but he conceded.
“While I do not fully agree with the District Court’s analysis, I respect the court’s holding — just as I have respected every judicial tribunal that has heard this case,” Griffin said in a statement Wednesday morning. “I will not appeal the court’s decision.”
Riggs said in a statement on social media: "After millions of dollars spent, more than 68,000 voters at risk of losing their votes, thousands of volunteers mobilized, hundreds of legal documents filed, and immeasurable damage done to our democracy, I’m glad the will of the voters was finally heard, six months and two days after Election Day."
Griffin filed hundreds of legal challenges, backed by the North Carolina Republican Party, in all of the Tar Heel state's 100 counties, alleging that more than 65,000 people had voted illegally, and that, of course, wasn't true. Riggs held firm and didn't back down. This is a big fucking deal.
More than six months after Justice Allison Riggs first won her race, North Carolina can finally turn the page on the 2024 election. The right to have your vote counted is sacred and underpins every other right in our democracy. I congratulate her on her victory and thank her for…
— Governor Josh Stein (@NC_Governor) May 7, 2025
Finally. Our democracy survives when every legal vote is counted and the will of the people is accepted by candidates who did not win. I was proud to appoint Justice Riggs and now she can continue her fair and impartial hard work on the NC Supreme Court. https://t.co/B7G2qj3s1z
— Roy Cooper (@RoyCooperNC) May 7, 2025
But let’s be clear - this never should have happened.
There was no sound legal basis for trying to change the rules after the fact. From the beginning, it was an attempt to twist the law to reverse the outcome of a legitimate election.
And it put tens of thousands of lawful…— Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) May 7, 2025
🚨BREAKING🚨
After multiple GOP challenges to the vote count, Democrat Allison Riggs has defeated Republican Jefferson Griffin in North Carolina’s 2024 Supreme Court Election. pic.twitter.com/eCDqiKm16Q— The Political HQ (@ThePoliticalHQ) April 16, 2025
