Riggs inches ahead of Griffin in the race for NC Supreme Court, with more votes to count

Judge Jefferson Griffin and Justice Allison Riggs (Courtesy photos)

Incumbent Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, was leading Republican Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin by 24 votes as of Sunday night as she tries to keep her seat on the state Supreme Court.

Riggs was trailing Griffin by about 10,000 votes on election night, but closed that gap as counties reviewed and added results from provisional ballots and absentee ballots that arrived on election night.

The final results are not yet in. Not all 100 county boards of election completed their work and reported results to the state Board of Elections by Friday evening, as had been anticipated.

"On Friday, 91 out of 100 counties finished their county canvasses, and I'm now leading the race for NC Supreme Court by 24 votes," Riggs wrote Sunday on X. "We always knew this race would be incredibly close, but it may come down to just dozens of votes."

The state Board of Election said in a news release Friday evening that six county boards scheduled meetings for Monday, and others may call meetings if they need them.

The state Supreme Court now includes five Republicans and two Democrats, including Riggs. Keeping this seat is critical to Democrats' hopes of reclaiming the court majority before the next round of redistricting in 2031.

After Wake County finalized its results Friday night, Democrat Terence Everitt had claimed the lead from Republican Ashlee Bryan Adams in the Senate District 18 race. Everitt had been trailing on election night. He's now ahead by 134 votes. Everitt is in his third term in the state House. He switched to run for a Senate seat that includes Granville and Wake's northern edge.

The result is close enough for Adams to request a recount, but Everitt posted a victory note to X on Saturday.

"I am deeply humbled and incredibly grateful to the voters of Senate District 18 for their trust and confidence in me. It is an honor to have earned your support, and I look forward to continuing to serve the people of NC – just in a new office...maybe not in the basement."

House Speaker Tim Moore moved Everitt's legislative office to a former supply closet after Everitt asked the Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman to investigate Moore on possible charges of embezzlement, bribery, or misconduct in office, related to Moore's affair with a state worker, WRAL reported. Freeman said there was no basis for a criminal investigation.

In House District 32, Democrat Bryan Cohn leads incumbent Republican Frank Sossamon by 233 votes. The district covers Granville County and part of Vance. The result is close enough for Sossamon, who is in his first term, to request a recount.

Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg had a 216 vote lead over Democratic challenger Nicole Sidman in House District 105. Democrats worked hard to defeat Cotham, a former Democrat who changed her party affiliation months after she was elected in an overwhelmingly Democratic district in 2022. Her party switch gave House Republicans a veto-proof majority. She voted with the GOP to limit abortion access, to impose anti-transgender laws, and to greatly expand school vouchers.

Republicans drew a new district for Cotham that gave her a chance to win reelection.

Sidman indicated on Facebook that she would ask for a recount.

"Our campaign has always been transparent, so I want to be clear: most recounts do not change the final result of the election," the Facebook post said. "At this point, our chance of success is low; however, our race is close enough that a tabulation error or mixup at one precinct on election night could be the difference. That's why recounts are part of the democratic process for races as close as ours."

State law allows legislative candidates trailing after the final results are in to request recounts if the totals are separated by 1% or less. For statewide races, the difference cannot be more than o.5% or 10,000 votes, whichever is less.

There have already been at least two voter protests filed.

Jay DeLancy, who has spent years searching for voter fraud, filed a protest that echoes claims from a Republican lawsuit alleging ineligible voters are on the rolls. A federal court judge dismissed part of the lawsuit in October. DeLancy's protest alleges that irregularities will cast doubt on the Supreme Court race results.

Another protest was filed by Garland Kanady in the House District 32 race between Cohn and Sossamon and is based on the same allegations of ineligible voters.

Key election numbers as of Nov. 16

– total number of registered voters in the state

– number of ballots cast

Just under 73% – total voter turnout

– number of absentee ballots requested

– number of absentee ballots cast as of Nov. 16 (in order to be counted, ballots had to arrive at the voter's county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day)

– the number of counties with boards of elections that will resume (and presumably conclude) their canvass meetings on Monday (Chatham, Craven, Cumberland, Forsyth, Randolph, and Yancey)

– in statewide contests, the threshold margin that allows a second-place candidate to request a recount

– the threshold in non-statewide contests

– the number of votes by which Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin led Democratic incumbent Supreme Court Associate Justice Allison Riggs on Wednesday, Nov. 6

– the number of votes cast for Riggs as of Saturday Nov. 16

– the number of votes cast for Griffin

– the current vote margin

– the number of votes cast for Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein in the race for governor, the top vote-getter in the 2024 General Election

– the number of votes cast for Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson

– number of votes cast for Donald Trump

– number of votes cast for Kamala Harris

– the Republican advantages in the current state House and Senate respectively (the precise three-fifths margins necessary to override a gubernatorial veto)

– the margins in the legislature in the new General Assembly that convenes in January if current leaders prevail

– the margins in the two closest state House races (Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn leads Republican incumbent Frank Sossaman in the 32nd district 21,213 to 20,980 and Republican incumbent Tricia Cotham leads Democratic challenger Nicole Sidman 27,303 to 27,087 in the 105th District)

– the margin in the closest state Senate race (Democrat Terence Everitt leads Republican Ashlee Bryan Adams 59,665 to 59,531 in the 18th District)