The price of North Carolina's Supreme Court election protest

We're getting our first major glimpse into how much the state Supreme Court race has cost Democrats and Republicans. But it'll likely be several months until a fuller picture emerges.

Republican National Committee Chairman addresses GOP volunteers at a Sept. 14, 2024, party organizing event.

Republican lawmakers enacted a 132-page bill in December that received substantial attention over provisions that offered minimal support to Hurricane Helene victims and shifted a number of job functions and appointment powers away from incoming Democratic statewide officeholders.

But a provision allowing state party building funds to be used to pay for legal actions and donate to a legal expense fund flew under the radar. Now, that change in the law is having a clear impact on the public’s understanding of the ongoing Supreme Court election dispute between Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin and Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs.

Democratic Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs and Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin are neck-and-neck in their 2024 Supreme Court bids.

Last year’s sweeping bill has paved the way for the North Carolina Republican Party to effectively underwrite Griffin’s legal battle without having to disclose any donors until a July 25 reporting deadline—when the court process may have already reached its conclusion.

The same campaign finance reporting provisions extend to the state Democratic Party But because of how the NCDP and Riggs campaign have organized themselves, there’s more immediate visibility into Democrats’ spending, as campaign legal funds must disclose fundraising and spending every three months.

So while it’ll be several months before we have a true sense of how much the ongoing election dispute has cost Riggs, Griffin and both major political parties in the state, new data gives us some early insights into the financial toll the never-ending Supreme Court race has taken. And if one thing is clear, it’s that North Carolina is the place to be if you’re an election lawyer.

Let’s dive into the numbers…

Campaign finance data shows Riggs’ campaign and legal fund have spent more than $928,000 on legal services since Griffin contested his apparent 734-vote defeat. Democrats’ legal bills include over $281,000 from Riggs’ campaign account in December and nearly $647,000 from her legal fund between January and March.