Under the Dome: GOP challenges in NC Supreme Court race spark bipartisan backlash

Good morning and welcome to the Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Emily Vespa.

Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s challenge of over 60,000 ballots cast in his November race has garnered bipartisan backlash.

In a television ad launched this week by RightCount Action, a group linked to Republicans, James Danz says he’s a lifelong Republican voter who cast his ballot for Griffin. Now, Griffin is challenging his vote, he says.

“Regardless of how you vote, all of us need to stand together to stop this attack on our elections,” Danz, who’s from Moore County, says, encouraging viewers to check if their vote is challenged.

And on a Thursday virtual town hall hosted by several voting rights groups, a group of challenged voters criticized Griffin’s protracted legal fight to invalidate the ballots, which is playing out in state and federal courts. He’s challenging most of the voters because he said they lack identification numbers on file, meaning their voter registration is technically incomplete.

Alexia Chavis, a student at NC A&T State University, said she updated her voter registration before the November election with her driver’s license number and a new address. She said she waited to be sure her registration was updated before she went to vote, and she confirmed her address with a poll worker. Still, her old voter registration is listed in Griffin’s challenges, she said.

“It really makes you wonder how many other people are like me, that [have] old, outdated information listed in this lawsuit when I correctly updated my address months ago,” Chavis said. “It’s also disheartening as an HBCU student and as a young Black voter to see that Black voters are twice as likely to be found on this voter challenge list.”

Asheville resident and challenged voter Elizabeth MacDonald said while trying to evacuate during Hurricane Helene, she spent the night in a hospital parking lot with her infant son. Amid the storm recovery, she still made every effort to cast an early vote in the election, she said.

“To learn that my valid vote is now at risk due to Judge Griffin’s appeal to have it thrown out is deeply upsetting,” MacDonald said.

Griffin trails his opponent, Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs, by 734 votes after two recounts. After the State Board of Elections rejected his ballot challenges, he asked the state Supreme Court to consider them and bypass lower courts. That court on Wednesday rejected his request, sending the case to the Wake County Superior Court, reports Kyle Ingram.

Griffin’s challenges are premised on legal arguments that courts, including a judge appointed by President Donald Trump, have previously rejected. But in Wednesday’s unanimous order, several of the state Supreme Court’s Republican justices said in concurring opinions that Griffin’s challenges might have merit.

On Monday, the federal 4th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the case. It’s being considered in federal court because Riggs and the State Board of Elections have said the issue implicates federal election laws.

LONGTIME STATE LAWMAKER JOE JOHN DIES

State Rep. Joe John, a longtime Wake County Democrat and former judge, died on Wednesday, reports Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan.

John recently resigned from his seat to spend more time with his family after doctors told him his throat cancer was terminal, he said on Facebook Sunday. He was 85.

“His dedication to justice, fairness, and improving the lives of others touched countless people, and his work will be remembered for generations to come. However, the title he held most dear was ‘Pa,’ a role in which he truly shined with adoration and devotion,” John’s family wrote on Facebook Wednesday.

Former Gov. Roy Cooper said his “friend Joe John has been a courageous champion for everyday people as a lawyer, Judge, Crime Lab Director and legislator.”

TWO REPUBLICAN STATE OFFICIALS CUT DEI FROM AGENCY POLICIES

Labor Commissioner Luke Farley and State Auditor Dave Boliek on Thursday announced they’re cutting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in their agencies, reports Avi Bajpai.

The decisions come after Trump on Monday signed an executive order to eliminate DEI policies in the federal government. And last year, the UNC System Board of Governors rolled back a policy with DEI requirements for the system’s 17 campuses, enacting a policy that emphasizes equality and nondiscrimination in its stead.

Farley is directing the Office of State Human Resources and his agency’s managers to no longer use DEI as a factor in measuring performance, he said.

“From this point forward, we will hire and evaluate employees based on merit and on their ability to fulfill our mission to protect the health, safety and well-being of North Carolinians,” Farley said in a news release.

Boliek said he’s directing his office to remove DEI from office policies, including “any training, performance requirements, preferencing, and directives.”

Today’s newsletter was by Emily Vespa. Check your inbox Sunday for more #ncpol.

Not a subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Under the Dome in your inbox daily.

This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.