Outside of North Carolina, the ruling reverberates, sending a clear message to those who might try to subvert the 2026 elections: your efforts won’t succeed.

We’re Getting Dangerously Close to a Losing North Carolina Candidate Being Declared the Winner, Slate, Apr. 14, 2025. What Elon Musk Won in Wisconsin, Slate, Apr. 3, 2025. The U

Republican Jefferson Griffin conceded after a monthslong legal battle. But Democrats suffered a defeat that may be more consequential: losing control of the state board that sets voting rules and adjudicates election disputes.

Copland Rudolph is glad that the North Carolina Supreme Court election challenge is finally over. Like tens of thousands of others swept up in the contentious litigation, she spent some six months reeling over whether her vote would count or Republican Appellate Court Judge Jefferson Griffin would succeed and have it thrown out.

After six months of legal limbo, the results of the North Carolina associate justice election have been certified.