A crowd of hundreds gathered in Raleigh last month to protest Jefferson Griffin's efforts to throw out 65,000 likely-valid votes. (Michael McElroy/Cardinal & Pine)
In an open letter, North Carolina’s legal community urges Griffin to concede. Read the letter here.
Jefferson Griffin, who lost his NC Supreme Court race to incumbent Allison Riggs by 734 votes, is asking the state court system to declare him the winner instead. He wants the courts to order election officials to throw out 65,000 ballots he says should not have been counted. The bulk of these voters, however, have been voting in the state for years without an issue.
On Tuesday, more than 200 members of the state legal community, including former judges and justices from the court Griffin wants to join, wrote an open letter to Griffin urging him to concede and warning him that his lawsuit is damaging the state court system, which North Carolinians trust to be fair and impartial.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals, where Griffin is a judge, will hear the case on Friday.
“Judge Griffin is asking our appellate courts to determine their own membership, a decision in which the judges and justices have strong personal and professional interests,” one of the letter signers, Jim Exum, former Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court, told Common Cause NC, a voting rights group that helped arrange the letter.
“No court should be asked to make that kind of decision because it will be difficult if not impossible for the court to achieve the impartiality we expect, however the court decides the case,” Exum said.
Another signer, Marshall Hurley, former General Counsel for the NC Republican Party, said that the fairness of the election had already been ensured by the state’s “reliable procedures .. [that] were faithfully followed and confirmed.”
He added: “It’s time for Judge Griffin to concede and allow our state to move forward.”
Here is the full text of the letter.
March 18, 2025
Judge Jefferson Griffin
North Carolina Court of Appeals
PO Box 888
Raleigh, NC 27602
Dear Judge Griffin:
As members of North Carolina’s legal community, we urge you to concede your loss in the race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court, bringing the nation’s last uncertified contest in the 2024 election to a close.
The undersigned attorneys include members of the North Carolina bar who cover the political spectrum from conservative to progressive. We practice various types of law. Several of us were honored to serve on the appellate and trial courts of our state. We ran for office to serve there. We hold in common the view that your continuing effort to overturn the vote in the election for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court has become a threat to the public’s faith in our judicial system.
Our state has extensive experience with close elections and we have procedures to ensure that the count is accurate. Those processes played out here, at your request, including two recounts.
Although we elect jurists in our state under a partisan banner, we must guard the people’s confidence that the jurists we elect apply the law without partisan preference. The arguments you have advanced ask our judicial system to change the rules in place for the 2024 election after it has run its course. Indeed, if you succeed, tens of thousands of voters will lose their voice after they voted.
For the sake of our judicial system, we ask you to terminate your litigation now.
Sincerely,
Jurists
Jim Exum, Jr., former Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Henry Frye, former Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Phil Carlton, former Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Willis Whichard, former Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court and former Judge,
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Gerald Arnold, former Chief Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Linda McGee, former Chief Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Wanda Bryant, former Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Jack L. Cozort, former Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Martha A. Geer, former Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Linda Stephens, former Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Ralph A. Walker, former Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Reuben F. Young, former Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Donald W. Stephens, former Senior Resident Judge, North Carolina Superior Court
Gregory A. Weeks, former Judge, North Carolina Superior Court
Marcia H. Morey, former Chief Judge, North Carolina District Court
Patricia DeVine, former Judge, North Carolina District Court
Jane P. Gray, former Judge, North Carolina District Court
Ann McKown, former Judge, North Carolina District Court
Christine Underwood, District Court Judge, District 32
Former Senior Government Officials and Leaders
Stephen E. Culbreth, former State Bar Councilor & Disciplinary Hearing Commission member
Ann Reed Dunn, former President of the North Carolina State Bar
Gerry Hancock, former North Carolina Senator and Attorney
Marshall Hurley, former General Counsel for the NC Republican Party
Alice Neece Mine, former Executive Director, North Carolina State Bar
Charles Meeker, former Mayor of Raleigh
Manisha P. Patel, NC State Bar Councilor; Greensboro Bar Association President
Bob Stephens, former General Counsel to Governor Pat McCrory
Joseph A. Smith, former North Carolina Commissioner of Banks
Leslie J. Winner, former North Carolina Senator and former Vice President and
General Counsel, University of North Carolina
Legal Educators
John Charles Boger, Professor of Law Emeritus
Sarah R. Cansler, Assistant Professor
Michael Louis Corrado, Professor of Law Emeritus
Emily Coward, Senior Lecturing Fellow
April Dawson, Associate Dean & Professor of Law
Hannah Demeritt, Clinical Professor of Law
Maxine Eichner, Professor of Law
Barbara Fedders, Associate Professor of Law
Eric M. Fink, Associate Professor of Law
Andrew Foster, Clinical Professor of Law
Suzanna Geiser, Assistant Professor of Law
Michael J. Gerhardt, Professor of Law
Irving Joyner, Professor of Law
Jamie T. Lau, Clinical Professor of Law
Ryke Longest, Clinical Professor of Law
Thomas Kelley, Professor of Law
Marguerite Most, retired Senior Lecturing Fellow
Theresa A. Newman, Clinical Professor of Law Emerita
Gene Nichol, Professor of Law
Peggy Nicholson, Clinical Professor of Law
Michelle B. Nowlin, Clinical Professor of Law
Carolyn McAllaster, Clinical Professor of Law School Emerita
Diane A. Reeves, retired NC Special Deputy Attorney General and Clinical Professor of Law
Deborah M. Weissman, Professor of Law
Jane Wettach, Professor of Law Emeritus
Attorneys
Reid C. “Cal” Adams, Jr., Attorney
Eleasa Harris Allen, Attorney
Lisa Angel, Attorney, Rosen Law Firm
Cindy E. Arevalo, Attorney
Mary Maclean Asbill, Attorney
Jeffrey L. Austin, Attorney
Lindsay Bass-Patel, Attorney
Emily N. Barker, Attorney, Attorney at Riley Pope & Laney, PLLC
Lucas Beal, Attorney
Suzanne Begnoche, Attorney
Donna Ray Berkelhammer, Attorney, Berkelhammer Law PC
Susanna Birdsong, Attorney
Karen Schuller Boardman, Attorney
Carol Bouchner, Attorney
John A. Bowman, Attorney, Maxwell Freeman & Bowman, PLLC
Jennifer S. Boyer, Attorney
William E. Brewer, Jr., Attorney
Walter E. Brock, Jr., Attorney
Jacob I. Brooks, Attorney
Kerry Burleigh, Attorney
Amie Carmack, Attorney
Sam Q. Carlisle, II, retired Attorney
Keith Carney, Esq., Attorney
Olivia Chaban, Attorney, Hardin & Chaban
Crista Collazo, Attorney
Chamberlain E. Collier, Attorney, Barnwell Whaley
Irena Como, Attorney
Tiffany G. Cox, Attorney, former Wake County Magistrate
John S Curry, Retired Attorney
Matthew J. Davenport, Attorney
Aaron Davison, Attorney
Kate Deiter-Maradei, Attorney
Clara Derby, Attorney
Kathleen Quinn DuBois, Attorney, CR Legal Team, LLP
Glenn Dunn, Attorney
Kate L. Eaton, Attorney
Steven Edelstein, retired Attorney
Drew Fabricius, Attorney
Sarah Jessica Farber, Attorney, former magistrate judge
Jay H. Ferguson, Attorney, Thomas, Ferguson & Beskind, LLP
Ben Finholt, Attorney
Mark Anderson Finkelstein, Attorney, Former President of 10th Judicial District Bar
Alexander French, Attorney, Haas and Associates
Lynn Fontana, Attorney
Georgeanna “Gigi” Gardner, Attorney
Vail Gardner, Attorney
Ellen W. Gerber, retired Attorney
Frank Goldsmith, Mediator and Arbitrator
Kelley Gondring, Attorney
Thomas Gooding, Attorney
Ann R. Goodman, Attorney
Rachel Goodling, Attorney
Susan L. Goetcheus, Attorney
Ann Groninger, Partner, Johnson & Groninger PLLC
Monica Guy, Attorney
Charles “Chip” T. Hagan III, Attorney
Hubert E. Hamilton, retired Attorney
Robin M Hammond, Attorney
William D. Harazin, Attorney
Aida Doss Havel, Attorney
Joshua M. Hayes, Partner, Hutchison PLLC
Heather Hillaker, Attorney, former judicial clerk for the N.C. Supreme Court
Sarah Hink, Attorney
Joseph E. Hjelt, Attorney
Abbey Hudson, Attorney
Ava K. Jennette, Attorney, New Direction Family Law
Leonard T. Jernigan, Jr., Attorney
Robert Jessup, Partner at Howard Stallings Law Firm
Cyrus M Johnson, retired partner, Womble Bond Dickinson US
Jamie L. Johnson, Attorney
Jackson Sailor Jones, Attorney
Katelin Kaiser, Attorney
Roshna Bala Keen, Attorney
Stella Kreilkamp, Attorney
Jon B. Kurtz, Partner, Kurtz Whitley Guy Sanders & Rainey, PLLC
Julia Latham, Attorney
Krista F Norstog Leonard, Attorney
Julia Linehan, Attorney
Sonya Linton, Attorney
Hannah Little, Managing Partner, Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm
Caroline Lonan, Attorney
Ashley E. Lorance, Attorney
Laura Loyek, Attorney
Douglas P. MacMillan, Attorney
Morgan Maccherone, Attorney
Jaclyn Maffetore, Attorney
Ashton L. Makey, Attorney, Union County Bar Association
Adam Mallon, Attorney
Ian Mance, Attorney
Maria J. Mangano, Attorney
Jessica Marsden, Attorney
Elizabeth T. Martin, Attorney
Jennifer Watson Marsh, Attorney
Edith W. Mason, Attorney
Nancy Mayer, Attorney
Margaret J. McCreary, retired Attorney
Christa McGill, Attorney
PK McGrann, retired Attorney
Carolyn P. Meade, Moore & Van Allen PLLC
Shaunis Mercer, Attorney
Julia W. Merricks, retired Attorney
Jaelyn Miller, Attorney
Lauren E. Miller, Attorney
Catherine Mitchell, Attorney
Cathy L. Moore, Attorney
Randolph Morgan III, Attorney
David L. Neal, Senior Attorney
Virginia Noble, Attorney, McGill & Noble, LLP
Sidney Overby, Attorney
Eleanor Panetti, Attorney
Mack Paul, Attorney
Katy Parker, Attorney
David McLean Parker, Attorney
Helen Parsonage, Attorney
Travis Payne, Attorney
Brooks Rainey Pearson, Attorney
Milan Pham, Attorney, NicholsonPham
Elizabeth T. M. Powell, Attorney
John A. Powell, retired Attorney
Eleanor Powers, Attorney
Nicole M. Quallen, attorney
Allison Quigley, Attorney, Begley Law Firm, PA
Matthew Quigley, Attorney, Begley Law Firm, PA
Carrie Randa, Attorney
Caroline Rawl, Attorney
Megan Reilly-Dreas, Attorney
Lawrence Reeves, Jr., Attorney
Sydney Reynolds, Attorney
Diana Evans Ricketts, Attorney
Mark E. Richardson, retired VP attorney, GlaxoSmithKline
Ann Robertson, Attorney, Robertson Immigration Law Firm
Cristal Robinson, Attorney
Kenneth J. Rose, Attorney
Sherri Zann Rosethal, retired Deputy City Attorney
Rush-Frazelle, Attorney
Debbie Sandlin, Attorney
James “Jim” Saranteas, Attorney
Kenneth Schorr, retired Attorney
Nicole Scallon, Attorney, Henson, Talley & Scallon, LLP
Jennifer Iliana Segnere, Attorney, Johnson & Groninger
A.D. Skaff, Attorney
Anne Slifkin, Attorney
Jo Anne Sanford, Attorney, Sanford Law Office
Mark Springfield, Attorney
Lisa Gordon Stella, Attorney
Mary Elizabeth Stillwell, Attorney
Gray Styers, Jr., Attorney
Kim Jinorio Swanson, Attorney
Anna M. Szamosi, Attorney
Barbara Szombatfalvy, Attorney
Jake Terrell, Attorney
Frank Thigpen, Attorney
J, Cheryl Thorstad, Attorney
Anne Harden Tindall, Attorney
Amalie Tuffin, Partner, Hutchison PLLC
Elizabeth Vennum, Attorney
J Vann Vogel, Emeritus Attorney
William W. Walker, Attorney
Dee Wallis, Attorney, Past President NCAWA
Danielle J. Walle, Attorney
Meghan E. Boyd Ward, Attorney
Gigi Warner, Attorney
Neya Warren, Attorney, James, McElroy & Diehl, P.A.
Jasmine Washington, Attorney
Ann C. Webb, Attorney
Julia Welch, Attorney
David T. White, Attorney, Simpson Law Firm
Elise Morgan Whitley, Attorney
Judson Williamson, Attorney
William N Wofford, Attorney, Hutchison PLLC
Sam S. Woodley, Jr., Attorney
Julie Youngman, former chair, NC Bar Association Appellate Rules Committee
Author
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