RALEIGH, N.C. — In a close race for the North Carolina Supreme Court, Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin faced legal challenges on Friday. A federal judge denied his request to stop the certification of his Democratic opponent, Allison Riggs, as the winner of the election.
Griffin’s legal team had asked U.S. District Judge Richard Myers to prevent the State Board of Elections from officially declaring Riggs the winner. However, Judge Myers ruled against this request, saying there was no immediate need to block the certification.
The State Board of Elections also dismissed election protests from Griffin and other Republican candidates involved in tight races. The board, with a Democratic majority, decided that the number of contested votes was too small to change the results. In Griffin’s case, Riggs led him by 734 votes after a recount, out of over 5.5 million votes cast. Other races had similarly small differences in votes, ranging from 128 to 228.
Griffin had asked the court to review more than 60,000 votes, arguing that they should be disqualified. These votes were cast by people whose registration records were missing certain information like a driver’s license or full Social Security numbers. Griffin’s lawyers claimed this could make him the winner. However, Riggs’ supporters argue that Griffin is trying to invalidate votes from qualified voters.
Riggs, a Democratic candidate, is aiming for an eight-year term on the court. Griffin had hoped the court would intervene and overturn the election results, but the judge’s decision made it less likely that the race will be altered.
Griffin still has the option to appeal the rulings in court. Meanwhile, some Republican candidates in other close legislative races may seek a decision from the General Assembly on who won. In one legislative race, Republican Rep. Frank Sossamon trails his Democratic opponent, Bryan Cohn, and a Cohn victory could impact the balance of power in the General Assembly.