Highlights of Justice Allison Riggs' visit to Henderson County Dems

On June 11, six months after winning her November election, Justice Allison Riggs was finally sworn in to keep her seat on the NC Supreme Court. 

And just two days after that long-awaited ceremony, she took time to travel to WNC and speak with Henderson County Democrats.

Get a quick recap of the NC GOP’s efforts to undo an election here.

 “From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” Justice Riggs told a clapping, enthusiastic crowd. “What we did here in North Carolina in the face of a red wave election—electing Democrats in half of the state level races—no other swing state accomplished. I feel it’s my duty to break through the noise to say that the rest of the country saw what you did and they are inspired!”

Indeed, the importance of North Carolina as a rapidly growing swing state was a theme that appeared throughout Justice Riggs’ talk. As she pointed out, if North Carolina had not been gerrymandered due to the 2022 state Supreme Court election results, the state would likely have sent a different set of representatives to the US House, possibly changing the balance of power. 

Read on for a few other quotes and highlights from Riggs’ visit:

·      Justice Riggs explained how her own parents got on the list of voters her opponent, Judge Jefferson Griffin, was trying to disenfranchise. Her father had spent 30 years in the military and her parents used their military IDs to register to vote.  Since these IDs do not have Social Security Numbers, they were targeted even though her parents showed IDs when they went to vote. “People who raised their hand to say they would serve our country were targeted. To my dying day, I’m going to talk about this. We cannot let people lie to our face and let them get away with that.”

·      An unexpected sidenote is that 20 people on the list were GOP officials. “I also had the opportunity to talk to voters (on the list) who did not vote for me and I told them I’m fighting tooth-and-nail to make sure your vote counts, too. This is an opportunity to show what we offer in the Democratic Party—we want every eligible vote to count.”  

·      By contesting the race with a constantly shifting kitchen sink approach, Republicans were likely working on developing a type of playbook for the future, betting that people wouldn’t care or pay attention to judicial races until it was too late. “And you all said, Not on Our Watch!”

·      The race was the closest state-wide race in the country, with Riggs ending up winning by 734 votes.  “You made that possible. You left everything out on the field….Red counties like Henderson—you all own this.”

·      While Jefferson Griffin tried multiple, extreme tactics to change the results of the election, North Carolina Democrats never let their vigilance wane. Those learnings and hard work will not be wasted. For example, Democrats will be more prepared because they have developed a plan to chase ballot cures and they even came up with a plan to get in touch with military voters stationed in Antarctica.  “We built a program to do that work.  We are now more powerful.  We know how to take a challenge and turn it into an opportunity. The wind is in our sails as we do our work, including the important work of re-electing Justice Anita Earls.”

·      Griffin’s attempts ended only when a Trump-appointed Republican federal judge ruled against him. Justice Riggs recalled that his opinion “was a joy to read” because he wrote the truth and “was willing to call a spade a spade.”

·      Among the unsung heroes in the ordeal are county boards of election, who lost resources due to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s demand that ballots be reprinted without his name and were then expected to handle the first election with required Voter ID. “Be sure to thank our election workers.  They are underfunded and overworked.”  

·      Looking forward, NC Democrats must hold the two seats they have on the Supreme Court by re-electing Justice Anita Earls in 2026 and then winning back the majority in 2028 when three GOP terms are up before the next round of redistricting. The GOP is pouring money into North Carolina races to keep control. “We have to focus on judicial races like never before. But I’m not feeling defeated, discouraged or tired.  You proved to me that I won’t be doing it alone. Thank you for fighting for a better North Carolina.”