2024 North Carolina Supreme Court Voter Guide

The Court decides questions of state law that can have significant impact, as well as death penalty cases. The Court issued a number of significant decisions in 2023, including on partisan gerrymandering, voter identification, and felon voting rights. It is expected to issue an opinion soon in a long-running education funding case called Leandro. The Court is revisiting the case after it previously ordered state officials to disburse education funding to schools throughout the state. Issues expected to come before the court in 2025 include election maps, the powers of gerrymandered legislatures, and the Governor’s power to appoint executive bodies.

Jefferson Griffin (Republican)

Jefferson Griffin graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned a J.D. from North Carolina Central School of Law. He worked in private practice before joining the Wake County District Attorney’s Office in 2010. Griffin was appointed as a District Court judge in Wake County in 2015 and then elected to keep his seat in 2016. He was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2020. Griffin serves as a Captain in the North Carolina Army National Guard and as the National Security Law Judge Advocate.

On abortion, Griffin indicated his likely opposition to it when he concurred in an opinion that said “life begins at conception.”
On education funding, Griffin joined the majority in a Court of Appeals decision in the Leandro line of cases, blocking disbursal of previously approved education funds to schools statewide.
On granting felons the right to vote, Griffin dissented from a Court of Appeals order allowing certain felons to vote, stating that the Constitution does not let felons “be treated the same as similarly situated, law-abiding citizens” and that if felons were allowed to vote, “untold thousands of lawful votes cast by North Carolina citizens likely will be diluted.”
On the impact of race in law enforcement, Griffin wrote that a defendant was wrong to say they were “treated differently because of the color of their skin.” “The law is colorblind.… We are fortunate to live in the United States of America where the law is applied the same to all citizens.”
On his judicial philosophy, Griffin wrote that he “is an originalist and a textualist” and says he most agrees with the judicial philosophies of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.

Griffin’s endorsements include North Carolina sheriffs and retired sheriffs. Griffin’s website also states that he was endorsed in 2020 by the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, and the North Carolina Republican Party.

Allison Riggs (Democrat – Incumbent)

Allison Riggs earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Florida and a J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Riggs worked at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) for 14 years, including as the Co-Executive Director and Chief Counsel for Voting Rights. She served as a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals before she was appointed to the Supreme Court of North Carolina in September 2023 to fill then-Justice Michael Morgan’s seat after his resignation.

On abortion, Riggs stated that North Carolinians should “elect people who will respect women’s freedom.”
On education funding, she joined Justice Earls’ dissenting opinion in the Leandro line of cases, siding with a previous Supreme Court ruling that ordered state officials to disburse education funds to schools.
On voting rights, Riggs represented plaintiffs challenging voter identification laws and in other voting rights cases. She said that she “had the privilege of advocating for” the “marginalized and disenfranchised.” She called gerrymandering an effort by “politicians [to] pick their voters rather than voters picking their representatives.”
On campaign finance laws, she has described the negative effects that money in politics can have on underrepresented communities: “Low-income communities… are often at a disadvantage to front the money it takes to put yourself forward as a candidate.”
On unions, she wrote “Growing up in West Virginia, I saw what unions did to keep folks safe. We have to elect judges who value working people. I’m so honored to have the endorsement of the @NCStateAFLCIO.”
On her judicial philosophy, Riggs agrees with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s commitment to judicial methodology over philosophy.

Riggs’ endorsements include the Sierra Club, Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People PAC, Young Democrats of North Carolina, Carolina Federation PAC, Replacements, Ltd. PAC, NC State AFL-CIO, Progressive Caucus of the NC Democratic Party, People’s Alliance, Wake County Voter Education Coalition, and Pro-Choice NC.

guides.vote is a nonpartisan effort to show where candidates stand. We do not support or oppose any political party or candidate. We include candidates polling 15% or more; use the QR code on the right for online versions, including links to credible sources and other candidates. Vote411.org offers guides to local races and how to vote. For campuses, see Campus Vote Project’s state-specific guides to student voting rules.

The Issues

Jefferson Griffin (Republican)

Allison Riggs (Democrat – Incumbent)