Washington, D.C. — Today, Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), endorsed Justice Allison Riggs for the North Carolina Supreme Court because she has proven to be a fair-minded and independent voice on the court. 

This endorsement is part of the NDRC’s Democracy Defenders program, a campaign supporting candidates running for state-level offices critical to safeguarding and strengthening democracy. Holder will be traveling to North Carolina later this week in support of Justice Riggs’ campaign.

Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the NDRC, released the following statement endorsing Justice Allison Riggs for the North Carolina Supreme Court: 

“Judicial decisions should adhere to basic legal principles and protect the rights of citizens, not the ideological preferences of a single justice. Justice Riggs has repeatedly demonstrated that she evaluates cases before her with thoughtfulness, compassion, and commitment to legal principle.  Throughout her career as a tenacious civil rights attorney, she has been a champion of every American’s fundamental rights, including voting rights.

“That fair-minded, independent approach stands in stark contrast to her opponent, who has already shown he would push the North Carolina Supreme Court even further to the extreme and go along with the majority’s approach in rubber stamping egregious gerrymanders drawn by the already gerrymandered Republican legislature.”

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

Justice Riggs’ opponent, Jefferson Griffin, praised the current North Carolina congressional map – which independent experts have named an extreme partisan gerrymander – and cited protecting future gerrymanders as a reason why he was running. Additionally, Griffin joined a deeply controversial ruling that would have established a precedent for so-called personhood laws in North Carolina, that in other states have resulted in restrictions to abortion access and IVF bans. 

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