Latest news with #WakeCountySuperiorCourt
CNBC
07-05-2025
- Politics
- CNBC
Republican candidate in North Carolina Supreme Court race after judge rejects challenge
Judge Jefferson Griffin, the Republican candidate for the N.C. Supreme Court listens to testimony in Wake County Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Griffin trails North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs by 734 votes following two recounts of the November 2024 election results. The Republican candidate for North Carolina's state Supreme Court conceded on Wednesday, ending his six-month long crusade to overturn the election results in the perennial battleground state. "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," Judge Jefferson Griffin said in a statement. "I will not appeal the court's decision," he added. His concession to Democratic Justice Allison Riggs came two days after a judge appointed by Republican President Donald Trump rejected Griffin's legal challenges to the election. The ruling by Richard E. Myers II, chief judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina, was a major win for Democrats in the key swing state. Riggs will serve an eight-year term on the GOP-majority court. It also boosts Democrats' chances of winning back the majority of the seven-justice court in 2028. In his 68-page order, Myers wrote that "retroactive changes to election procedures raise serious due process concerns, particularly where those changes result in invalidating the votes of individuals who cast ballots in reliance on previously established rules." The order was a firm rejection of Griffin's post-election legal challenges. Critics of Griffin's arguments had warned that if he won, it could open the door to other candidates who lose races to challenge the results. "You establish the rules before the game. You don't change them after the game is done," Myers wrote in his order. Riggs narrowly won the statewide contest in November's election, a victory that was later affirmed by two recounts. The months of legal challenges make the North Carolina Supreme Court race the last uncalled contest of the 2024 election cycle. It also forced Riggs' campaign to spend thousands of dollars to fight the lawsuits. Riggs' campaign and a dedicated legal fund spent nearly $100,000 on lawyers to help her fight the prolonged court battle, according to independent North Carolina journalist Bryan Anderson, citing campaign finance data.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC court sides with Stein in battle for control over election boards
Good morning and welcome to Under the Dome. I'm Caitlyn Yaede. A North Carolina court ruled that Gov. Josh Stein can retain power over the state election boards — for now. Kyle Ingram has the details on the 2-1 ruling from Wake County Superior Court that came down Wednesday, blocking a GOP-led bill that would have transferred control over the election boards to the state auditor. The court said in its opinion that the bill violated the state constitution. If a court had not intervened, Dave Boliek was slated to assume control of the boards on May 1. Still, this decision is likely to be appealed to the state's Republican-controlled appellate courts. Today is the deadline set by the U.S. Department of Education for public schools to pledge that they are not using diversity, equity and inclusion programs — or risk their federal funding. The Trump administration has said that such programs violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. State Superintendent Mo Green shared Wednesday that all 115 districts and the Department of Public Instruction have signed onto the pledge. But he does not believe that the Department of Education has the power to prohibit DEI programs, he said in a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon. North Carolina receives $1.1 billion annually from the federal government for education. This pushback to federal policy comes as the General Assembly is attempting a DEI ban of its own in schools, as well as restrictions on talk of sexism and racism in the classroom. Lawmakers are also considering a bill that would eliminate DEI programs in state and local governments. T. Keung Hui has more on why North Carolina schools signed onto the pledge and the state of DEI in Wake County, where the Office of Equity Affairs will continue its work. Rocky Mount Mayor Sandy Roberson announced his candidacy Wednesday for Congress, where he hopes to represent North Carolina's 1st District. This is Roberson's second bid for the seat, after being runner-up in the 2022 Republican primary. A Republican hasn't won the district since 1883, but its boundaries have shifted, and it's now a swing district. The Republican mayor and Trump ally vowed in a news release to 'stand with President Trump to secure our border, stop the flow of deadly fentanyl into our region, and unleash the American economy to benefit the citizens of North Carolina's First District.' Roberson has served two terms as mayor since being elected in 2019, and is also CEO of HealthView Capital Partners. If he's successful in the 2026 Republican primary, Roberson will campaign against Democrat Don Davis. Davis who was elected to his second term in the district last year, defeating Laurie Buckhout in a close race. Buckhout has endorsed Roberson's campaign. Long-awaited federal recognition for North Carolina's Lumbee tribe and its 55,000 members could come soon, Danielle Battaglia and Border Belt Independent's Sarah Nagem report. The Department of the Interior is expected to release a report, ordered by President Donald Trump within days of taking office, detailing the paths to federal recognition for the Lumbee tribe. At the same time, Sen. Thom Tillis is working to advance the Lumbee Fairness Act, which would make the Lumbee tribe the 575th federally recognized tribe. The distinction would open the tribe up to federal funding it has been denied for more than a century, after a 1956 law granted only partial recognition. The Charlotte Observer's Nora O'Neill has an update on the controversy in Cabarrus County, where newly appointed county commissioner Lamarie Austin-Stripling has yet to take the oath of office. On Wednesday, a judge blocked Austin-Stripling's appointment while a lawsuit continues.. Joe Marusak first reported on Austin-Stripling's appointment earlier this month, which Cabarrus Citizens for Government Integrity says happened illegally. The Department of Education announced this week that it will soon be collecting on defaulted student loan payments. The average college graduate in North Carolina, according to Education Data Initiative, has more than $38,700 in student loan debt. David Raynor and The Sacramento Bee's David Lightman break down what this federal crackdown could mean for North Carolina borrowers. After opting out of an in-person town hall — and reportedly advising other House Republicans not to hold town halls — Rep. Richard Hudson is facing fire from North Carolina Democrats, who plan to rally in his district today. Hudson, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, spoke against Trump's call to deport U.S. citizens, but declined to do so in person, hosting a telephone town hall on Tuesday, NOTUS' Calen Razor reports. Democrats, like Connecticut's Sen. Chris Murphy, Florida's Rep. Maxwell Frost and North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, are slated to speak at today's event in Alamance County. Today's newsletter was by Caitlyn Yaede. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol. Not a subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Under the Dome in your inbox daily.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC judges rule against GOP plan to strip governor of election board appointments
A panel of judges on Wednesday struck down a GOP plan to wrest control of North Carolina's election boards from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and transfer it to the Republican state auditor. In a 2-1 ruling, a Republican and Democratic judge in Wake County Superior Court agreed with Stein that the power shift, which was passed in the final days of the GOP's veto-proof supermajority, violated the state constitution. 'The Constitution prevents the legislature from unreasonably disturbing the vesting of 'the executive power' in the governor or the governor's obligation to take care that the laws are faithfully executed,' the majority opinion, authored by Judges Edwin Wilson and Lori Hamilton, says. Had it not been for the court's intervention, newly-elected Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek would have gained control over the boards on May 1, making him the only auditor in the country with election oversight powers. Over the last eight years, the Republican-controlled legislature has made numerous attempts to wrest control of the State Board of Elections away from the governor. All of those schemes were defeated by either courts or voters. Their latest attempt, passed as part of a sweeping power shift bill called Senate Bill 382, gave the power to appoint a majority of the board's members to the state auditor — a position which has just been won by a Republican after Democrats held the office for 16 years. Wednesday's ruling is a win for Democrats who, for now, will be able to retain a 3-2 majority on the State Board of Elections, as well as all 100 county boards of elections. 'The North Carolina Constitution puts the Governor in charge of executing the law,' Stein said on social media after the ruling. 'That's what the voters elected me to do, so that's what I'll do.' However, Boliek quickly said in a statement he would appeal the ruling. An appeal would be heard by the state's Republican-dominated appellate courts, which have previously backed other efforts by the legislature to expand its power. Similarly, Senate leader Phil Berger said he's 'taking immediate steps to rectify this constitutionally corrosive and misguided ruling.' 'Two lower court judges just erroneously pronounced nine duly elected, statewide members of the executive branch nothing more than honorary figureheads,' he said in a statement. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Andrew Womble, a Republican, argued that the legislature is the closest branch of government to the people and therefore has broad authority to assign responsibilities from the governor to a different official in the executive branch. 'The decision to assign the duty of appointment of members to the Board of Elections to the auditor is one the General Assembly was expressly authorized to make,' he wrote. 'As result, the governor cannot show that Senate Bill 382 neither impedes his ability to take care that the laws will be faithfully executed nor violates the separation of powers clause.' Lawyers for Republican legislative leaders, who defended the law in court, made similar arguments in a hearing last week. 'This is obviously something that the governor does not like, but it is what our founders thought out very carefully and what they wanted as a check against the governor,' attorney Matthew Tilley said. But judges expressed skepticism about the limits of such a power, with Hamilton, a Republican who joined Wednesday's majority opinion, asking how the plan wasn't a 'bare-faced power grab.' Attorney Jim Phillips, who represented Stein, noted that elections were not traditionally a power within an auditor's purview. 'For 150 years, the auditor ain't ever had nothing to do with elections,' he said. The majority agreed, writing that while the legislature can prescribe some duties to executive officers, their power was 'constrained by the people's understanding of the purpose of those offices when they were created.'
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judges side with Stein in lawsuit over control of NC elections board, striking down GOP-led law
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein delivers his inaugural address at the Capitol Building in Raleigh on Jan. 11, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) A panel of North Carolina judges struck down a new Republican-led law Wednesday that sought to move control of the state's elections board under the control of the GOP state auditor — siding with Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and declaring the law unconstitutional. Senate Bill 382, passed late last year, shifted a number of aspects of executive branch power within the state away from the incoming governor. Among those changes were steering control of the elections board — which is currently overseen by the governor and has a Democratic majority — to newly elected auditor Dave Boliek, a Republican. Citing a series of prior rulings on executive power and elections board control, the Wake County Superior Court judges wrote that the law was unconstitutional and should be permanently enjoined. 'Because the duty to faithfully execute the laws has been exclusively assigned to the governor, Senate Bill 382 cannot reassign that duty to the auditor without violating the constitution,' wrote Judges Edwin G. Wilson, Jr., a Democrat, and Lori I. Hamilton, a Republican. Judge R. Andrew Womble, a Republican, dissented from the pair's ruling, writing that the legislature was 'expressly authorized' to shift duties to the auditor. In a statement Wednesday, Stein celebrated the ruling that declared 'the legislature's power grab unconstitutional.' 'The North Carolina Constitution puts the governor in charge of executing the law,' Stein said. 'That's what the voters elected me to do, so that's what I'll do.' Stein has filed separate suits challenging other portions of the law, dealing with control of the state Highway Patrol and his power to make court appointments. A spokesperson for the Board of Elections told NC Newsline in November 2024 that if the law were to take effect, it would likely result in control of the board changing hands, with a 3-2 Republican split. The offices of Boliek, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling Wednesday. Stein-Hall-Berger-SummaryJudgment4232025
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC Court of Appeals rules in favor of Griffin in case to dismiss over 65,000 votes
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — In a new ruling Friday, the NC Court of Appeals gave favor to Republican Jefferson Griffin, the candidate of the state Supreme Court, overturning the February ruling from the Wake County Superior Court. The primary reason behind the ruling, in a vote that went 2-1 in favor of the Plaintiff, is because of the amount of incomplete voter registration votes that were cast in November. Legal challenge over extremely close North Carolina election stays in state court for now Over 65,000 voters have 15 days to prove that their votes were eligible. According to the Opinion of the Court, if the deadline is not met, the votes will be tossed out. 'Upon receipt of the order of remand from the Superior Court, the Board shall immediately require the county boards to provide notice to these challenged voters of their ability to cure their registrations, and upon verification, their votes may be counted,' the court document said. The court also concluded that 'never residents' voters are not eligible to vote in North Carolina, non-federal elections, and went on to say 'the votes cast by these purported voters are not to be included in the final count in the 2024 election for Seat 6.' Hundreds rally in downtown Raleigh against Judge Jefferson Griffin Griffin first filed an appeal the day after votes were counted in the general election where he lost the state Supreme Court seat to Democrat Allison Riggs by 625 votes. He argued that the Board of Elections, who he later filed a lawsuit against, did not properly check all voter registrations when they counted the votes. Dissent from Judge Hampson argues that voters up for debate did everything they were instructed to do. 'Their ballots were accepted. Their ballots were counted. The results were canvassed. None of these challenged voters was given any reason to believe their vote would not be counted on Election Day or included in the final tallies.' The dissent went on to say this sets an Unconstitutional precedent for altering other elections against voters' wills. 'Changing the rules by which these lawful voters took part in our electoral process after the election to discard their otherwise valid votes in an attempt to alter the outcome of only one race among many on the ballot is directly counter to law, equity, and the Constitution.' Jefferson Griffin appeals Wake County judge's decision in NC Supreme Court race Reaction has spanned across the state from leaders on the court's decision. 'North Carolina Democrats WILL fight this decision. But make no mistake, the statewide court of appeals bench has cowered to political pressure and corruption from their own party. The NCGOP and RNC are trying to steal an election and test the waters for future election denial,' said Anderson Clayton, Chair of the NC Democratic Party, on Twitter. 'This decision ultimately will be appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court now. Where Republicans maintain a 5-2 majority. (And since Justice Riggs recused herself, it's a 5-1 majority.) NC voters will see just how corrupt the State Supreme Court when they rule on this case,' her tweet said. See the full appeals court decision here Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
