A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that North Carolina's disputed race for a seat on the state Supreme Court must be reviewed in state courts before the matter can go before a federal tribunal.

Tuesday’s decision means Judge Jefferson Griffin’s challenge could eventually be heard by the North Carolina Supreme Court, the very body he aims to join.

Three counts found an incumbent Democrat won a State Supreme Court race. But the Republican candidate is trying to nullify more than 60,000 votes.

Republican judge Jefferson Griffin has won a temporary reprieve in his effort to undo the 2024 election results that showed him losing to Democratic Justice Allison Riggs in a race for the state Supreme Court.

In a win for Judge Jefferson Griffin, his challenge to North Carolina Supreme Court seat race will remain in state court, with a federal court retaining jurisdiction of several federal issues, should they remain after state court proceedings are resolved.

An appeals court agreed Tuesday that a federal trial judge acted properly last month in declining to rule on the eligibility of tens of thousands of voters last fall in an unresolved North Carolina Supreme Court election and returning the matter to state court.

CHARLOTTE — The Federal Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that the fight over North Carolina’s Supreme Court race will remain in state court. The North Carolina Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin lost to the incumbent democrat candidate Allison Riggs by 734 votes after two statewide recounts.

A federal appeals panel has heard arguments involving a still-unresolved November election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat. Three judges on the 4th U.S.