Abortion and reproductive rights have been at the center of the battle for the presidency and governor in North Carolina, a battleground state that has more moderate abortion restrictions than its southern neighbors.
That’s even more true in the battle for a seat on the state Supreme Court, which abortion rights supporters say will play a key role in determining whether Republicans can impose further restrictions. Registered Republicans currently hold five of the seven seats and could expand that majority even further in Tuesday’s elections.
Judge Allison Riggs, a Democrat running for re-election, focuses heavily on the issue and expresses her support for reproductive rights. Her first television advertisement featured images of Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor, who favors limiting abortions earlier than the current 12 weeks. She says her Republican rival on the court could be a decisive vote for such restrictions.
“This is an issue that is going before the state Supreme Courts, and it is an issue that is very salient to voters right now,” Riggs said in an interview.
Her Republican opponent, Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, said Riggs says too much about an issue that could end up in court.
“I think this is an inappropriate manner, a clear violation of our legal standards and our code of conduct,” he said.
The race in North Carolina highlights how much abortion is fueling expensive campaigns for Supreme Courts in several states this year. Groups on the right and left are spending big money to reform courts that could play a decisive role in legal battles in the coming years over abortion, reproductive rights, voting rights, redistricting and other hot-button issues.
Experts say the campaigns show how the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down constitutional protections against abortion that had been in place for half a century has changed races for state supreme courts.
“What Dobbs did signaled to both political stakeholders and the public that these state courts, which had not received much attention, are actually going to be very important and they are going to decide some of the biggest cases that people would can treat. I expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Douglas Keith, senior counsel at the Brennan Center’s judicial program, which tracks court spending.
This year, 33 states are holding elections for 82 seats on the Supreme Court. The 2024 election cycle follows record spending on judicial races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania last year.
Groups on the left have significantly increased their spending on state courts this year. The American Civil Liberties Union has spent $5.4 million on cross-country races in Montana, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio. Planned Parenthood and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee announced earlier this year that they were jointly spending $5 million, focusing on court races in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
“We have never invested more heavily in the state Supreme Courts,” said Katie Rodihan, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes. “This is truly a groundbreaking step for us, and I expect this will be the standard for us going forward.”
The targets include Ohio, where Republicans have a 4-3 majority on the court. Democrats are defending two seats in the field with a third open, and Democratic victories in all three races are considered a long shot in the Republican-leaning state.
Control of the court could be crucial if the state appeals a judge’s ruling that strikes down the state’s most sweeping abortion restrictions. The ruling said the law banning most abortions once cardiac activity is detected — as early as six weeks into pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant — violated a constitutional amendment approved by voters last year that protected reproductive rights .
There are two seats up for election on the Michigan court, where Democratic-backed justices have a 4-3 majority. Court races are technically nonpartisan, but candidates are nominated at party conventions. Republicans would have to win both seats for the court to swing in their favor.
Judge Kyra Harris Bolden is defending the seat to which she was appointed two years ago by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Bolden was the first black woman to sit on Michigan’s bench. She faces Republican-backed Judge Patrick O’Grady for the remaining four years of the eight-year term.
Republican state Rep. Andrew Fink is competing with University of Michigan law professor Kimberly Anne Thomas, who was nominated by Democrats, for the other open seat being vacated by a Republican-backed judge.
Groups supporting Bolden and Thomas view the races as crucial to defending abortion rights, with one group’s ad warning that “the Michigan State Supreme Court could still take away abortion rights.”
The most heated races are for two seats on the Montana Supreme Court, which is under fire from Republican lawmakers for rulings against laws that would have limited access to abortion or made voting more difficult.
Former U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry Lynch is running against State Attorney Cory Swanson for chief judge, while State Judge Katherine Bidegaray is running against State Judge Dan Wilson for a new open seat on the court.
Progressive groups support Lynch and Bidegaray. Both said in an ACLU questionnaire that they agreed with the reasoning and ruling of a 1999 Supreme Court ruling that the constitutional right to privacy includes the right to obtain a pre-viability abortion.
Groups on the right have portrayed them as too liberal and echoing the rhetoric of national Republicans, with text messages stoking debate over transgender athletes on female sports teams.
The Republican State Leadership Committee, which has been active in state court races for years, said its Judicial Fairness Initiative planned to spend seven figures in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.
The group’s ads focus on issues other than abortion. In one touting three Republicans running for court in Ohio, the group shows images of President Donald Trump, along with images related to immigration.
A super PAC backed by conservative donor and shipping executive Richard Uihlein has also given money to groups involved in state Supreme Court races in Montana and Ohio.
Progressive groups are even drawing attention to long-shot states like Texas, where Republicans hold all the seats on the Supreme Court. They are seeking to unseat three Republican justices who were part of unanimous rulings rejecting challenges to the state’s abortion ban.
One group, Find Out PAC, has placed digital ads in San Antonio, Dallas and Houston criticizing Judges Jimmy Blacklock, John Devine and Jane Bland. In their advertisement, the group accuses the three of ‘playing doctor from the couch’.
In North Carolina, Riggs’ campaign for abortion rights has drawn complaints from Republicans who say she is stepping outside the bounds of legal ethics. But Riggs said she isn’t saying how she would govern anyway and is just sharing her values with voters.
“I continue to talk about my values because, at its core, our democracy works best when people vote with knowledge,” she said.
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DeMillo reported from Little Rock, Arkansas. Associated Press writers Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, and Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report.
