Democrat keeps slight lead for North Carolina Supreme Court as counties finish count

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Democratic incumbent on North Carolina's Supreme Court expanded a very small lead over her Republican challenger as the last counties worked late Monday to complete their official tallies from the Nov. 5 election.

Associate Justice Allison Riggs had trailed on election night by roughly 10,000 votes to Jefferson Griffin, a state Court of Appeals judge. But that margin dwindled last week as election boards in the state's 100 counties reviewed information associated with tens of thousands of provisional and absentee ballots and added voting choices of those that qualified for counting to totals.

County boards held their local canvass meetings on Friday, and by the evening, Riggs had overtaken Griffin from the over 5.5 million ballots cast for the race.

About 10 counties — including those where the cities of Winston-Salem and Fayetteville are located — didn't complete their work Friday and most met again on Monday. With three counties yet to close out their canvass Monday night, Riggs' lead had grown to over 600 votes.

Should the advantage hold, Griffin would have until noon Tuesday to seek a statewide machine recount, in which ballots are run again through tabulator machines. A Griffin spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a text seeking comment.

After the canvass, a handful of legislative district races remained close, including a state House race that if the margin holds would end the veto-proof majority that Republicans have held within the General Assembly since last year.

In that contest covering Granville County and part of Vance County, Democrat Bryan Cohn leads first-term GOP Rep. Frank Sossamon by 233 votes. A spokesperson for the House Republican Caucus didn't respond to a text message asking whether Sossamon would request the recount.

Three other General Assembly districts that The Associated Press has not called were heading to recounts, according to statements made by the trailing candidate in each race or by a spokesperson. Two are in the Senate and one is in the House.

In the House race, Democrat Nicole Sidman said Monday she requested a recount in her race with Mecklenburg County state Rep. Tricia Cotham, who leads Sidman by 216 votes. It was Cotham's switch from the Democrats to the Republicans in April 2023 that secured the necessary 72 House seats to override Cooper's vetoes in both chambers by relying solely on GOP lawmakers.

In the Senate, Republicans have already maintained their supermajority by winning the necessary 30 seats in their chamber. Democrats currently lead in two of the chamber's 50 seats where Republican opponents have sought or will seek a recount.

Election officials would aim to complete recounts before the State Board of Elections completes its canvass and certifies results on Nov. 26.

Riggs was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to the Supreme Court last year and is one of two Democrats on the seven-member court. She made abortion a key issue in her campaign and in advertising touted her support for reproductive rights. North Carolina lawmakers enacted a law last year further limiting most abortions to after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Griffin said that Riggs was speaking too much about an issue that could come before the court.