By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
More than 180 days after North Carolina voters cast their ballots, Democrat Allison Riggs was officially certified as an Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday morning in a ceremony inside the state House chambers at the Capitol in Raleigh.
Riggs, who was originally appointed to the Supreme Court in 2023 by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper to replace Justice Mike Morgan, won the November 2024 election by a razor-thin margin—just 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast.
Despite the narrow victory, her certification path was delayed by legal challenges from her Republican opponent, Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin.
After numerous recounts, legal rulings, and voters coming forward to ensure their votes were counted, the final hurdle was cleared last week when Griffin formally conceded the race. This was just two days after U.S. District Judge Richard Myers, appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled that thousands of previously disputed ballots must be included in the final tally.
Griffin’s concession set the stage for Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony, where Riggs took the oath of office administered by her longtime mentor and fellow Justice, Anita Earls. The two have a deep professional history: Riggs worked under Earls at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a Durham-based civil rights organization founded by Earls, and later led the organization herself.
During the ceremony, Earls praised Riggs not only for her legal intellect but for her integrity and resilience: “I’ve watched her develop not just the brains for a high-powered legal career, but also the courage and heart that it took to do that hard work… We are at a moment in our democracy where it takes everyone standing up... and standing strong,” she said.
In her remarks, Justice Riggs criticized Griffin’s legal campaign to overturn the election results. She condemned his efforts as a waste of taxpayer resources—as much as $2 million—and a threat to democratic norms.
“This is a victory for North Carolina voters and the rule of law,” Riggs wrote on social media last week after a federal judge ordered her 2024 victory to be made official. “But we must keep fighting to elect judges who will put the Constitution over party and personal ambition.”
Griffin’s legal challenge focused on ballots from heavily Democratic counties and was initially successful in the state Supreme Court, where he secured a 4-2 ruling from Riggs’ colleagues—four Republicans siding with him, with Justice Earls and one Republican justice dissenting. Riggs recused herself from that case.
“In the last six months of this fight, many of you thanked me for my commitment and energy in this fight. It was never an option for me to give anything less,” Riggs said.
Riggs’ win ensures that Democrats retain two seats on the seven-member high court, with the next opportunity to shift its ideological balance coming in 2026, when Justice Earls’ seat is up for election.
Despite his defeat, Griffin will remain on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, where his term runs through 2028.
