RALEIGH — Primary wins in the top judicial races for the North Carolina Supreme Court and Court of Appeals were decided on March 5.
For the Supreme Court Seat 6, Democrat Associate Justice Allison Riggs decisively fended off her challenger, Guilford County Superior Court Judge Lora Cubbage, winning 69% of the vote. Riggs will face Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin in the general election.
Griffin has been in his role for three years and was among the Republican candidates who swept the state’s top judicial races in 2020.
Riggs, formerly an attorney with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, was elevated to the top court on Sept. 11, 2023, by Gov. Roy Cooper to replace former Associate Justice Michael Morgan, who departed his position early to run for governor. Just nine months prior, Cooper had appointed Riggs to the Court of Appeals.
Sitting Associate Justice Anita Earls and Riggs were partners at that firm prior to Earls winning her seat.
The North Carolina Supreme Court currently sits at a 5-2 Republican majority. Should Riggs fall to Griffin, that majority would increase to 6-1.
Republican District Court Judge Chris Freeman unseated incumbent Court of Appeals Judge Hunter Murphy in the primary for seat 15 on the Court of Appeals, claiming 62% of the vote.
Murphy held the seat since first being elected in 2016. Picking up a primary challenger was not totally unforeseen given that the Supreme Court censured Murphy over a “toxic work environment” in 2020. The censure involved allegations that Murphy had failed to intervene when an assistant of his reportedly threatened and sexually harassed other clerks working in the office.
