The 2024 election is finally over
Everyone knows that President Donald Trump defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris at the ballot box in November. But technically, the 2024 election just ended on Wednesday, when the last remaining contest was finally decided.
In the hotly-contested North Carolina Supreme Court race between Republican Jefferson Griffin and Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs, Griffin conceded after US District Judge Richard Myers ruled against his electoral challenge.
Myers instructed North Carolina's election board to certify Riggs' victory in a race that she won by a razor-thin 734-vote margin out of more than 5.5 million ballots cast.
"While I do not fully agree with the District Court's analysis, I respect the court's holding — just as I have respected every judicial tribunal that has heard this case," Griffin said in a statement on Wednesday.
There were multiple recounts for the key judicial seat on a court where Republicans hold a 5-2 majority.
Griffin challenged the validity of roughly 65,000 votes, which was more than enough to affect the final outcome of the election in one of the most competitive swing states in the country.
The challenges stretched on for weeks — and then months — after the November election.
Democrats called foul on the GOP effort to overturn Riggs' victory, arguing that the party was seeking to disenfranchise voters, especially in Democratic-leaning areas. However, Griffin and state Republicans contended that many of the votes in question could potentially have been cast by ineligible voters.
Riggs, who was appointed to the state Supreme Court in 2023 by then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, applauded the outcome while also criticizing the GOP's election challenge.
"After millions of dollars spent … thousands of volunteers mobilized, hundreds of legal documents filed, and immeasurable damage done to our democracy, I'm glad the will of the voters was finally heard, six months and two days after Election Day," she said in a statement.
"It's been my honor to lead this fight — even though it should never have happened," she added.
Last November, Democrats performed strongly in North Carolina, easily winning the governor's race, flipping the lieutenant governor's office, and holding the attorney general's office despite Harris' statewide loss to Trump.
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