Jefferson Griffin and Allison Riggs are vying this November for a seat on the NC Supreme Court. (Courtesy photo)
Judge Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court, said his Democratic opponent Justice Allison Riggs, is advancing a liberal agenda through the courts and violating judicial conduct rules.
Griffin, who currently serves on the state’s Court of Appeals, said Riggs has made public statements about how she would rule on cases that could come before the court. “My opponent has staked out her position on issues. She has explicitly said how she would vote on cases, and these are all clear violations of our Code of Judicial Conduct,” Griffin said at a GOP judicial candidate forum on Monday.
“It’s been frustrating to watch as a citizen, as a jurist, as a lawyer, to watch how far she would take judicial elections down, and it goes back to that first point is because their ideas, their judicial philosophy, don’t work.”
Griffin, whose campaign website identifies him as an adherent to the controversial conservative judicial concepts of originalism and textualism, didn’t specifically mention which statements he was referring to. Last month, after Riggs released a campaign ad in which she said she will protect abortion rights, critics from her opponent’s camp charged that she was in violation of the state’s Judicial Code of Conduct.
According to that code judges should “abstain from public comment about the merits of a pending proceeding in any state or federal court dealing with a case or controversy arising in North Carolina.”
Responding to Griffin’s comments, Riggs’ campaign manager Embry Owen, said that Riggs will not be deterred from speaking up about abortion rights.
“As the youngest woman to serve on the NC Supreme Court, and the only woman of childbearing years serving on any of the state’s appellate courts, Justice Riggs has been, and will continue to be, outspoken about her values on reproductive freedom. All North Carolinians should be able to start and grow their families in safety and peace.
Our state courts rule on matters of critical importance for all North Carolinians. Justice Riggs thinks it is essential that voters get to know her and her values.”
Riggs, whose campaign website lists her guiding principles as “integrity, transparency, consistency and empathy,” is a longtime civil rights attorney and is only one of two Democrats remaining on the North Carolina Supreme Court. She was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2023 – just nine months after she was appointed to the Court of Appeals – to fill the vacancy left by Associated Justice Mike Morgan, who retired.
In an interview with NC Newsline last month, Riggs said she views the upcoming election as pivotal for the future direction of the state’s judiciary, and a test of whether her strategy of engaging voters statewide is an effective one.
“This is the election that’s going to tell us of our plan of talking differently as judges and trying to do some different things to engage, particularly non-legal communities, about why our courts matter, what our courts do and why they matter,” said Riggs. “I think it’s a test about whether what we’re doing differently is working.”
Riggs made the comments after a candidate forum hosted by the Chatham County NAACP and the Hispanic Liaison Forum in Pittsboro.
Even if Riggs wins, Democrats will not gain control of the court this year, but it would be a key step in their aim to reclaim a majority prior to next round of legislative and congressional redistricting in 2030. Given the likelihood of legal challenges to that process, it’s widely assumed that the composition of the court will be extremely important.
“This is sort of the first domino that needs to fall to make sure that we’re restoring a majority of people who believe in the Constitution and will rule without fear or favor and are driven more by a commitment to the rule of law than bipartisan interest. “That’s what’s at stake,” said Riggs, who has litigated gerrymandering cases in her work as a civil rights attorney.
During her speech at the forum, Riggs also criticized her opponent’s claims that racial bias does not exist in the criminal justice system.
Monday’s forum featured three other Republican candidates who are all running for seats in the state’s Court of Appeals.
Below are the judicial candidates for the Court of Appeals:
Republican Tom Murry is running to unseat Democrat Judge Carolyn Thompson who is currently serving in seat 12.
Democrat Ed Eldred is vying for seat 14 which is currently occupied by the Valerie Zachary.
Republican Chris Freeman and Democrat Martin E. Moore are both running for seat 15.
More information about the candidate their backgrounds can be obtained in the nonpartisan voter guides prepared and maintained by the State Board of Elections.