Raleigh attorney Chris Anglin has won his fight to run as a Republican for the Supreme Court in the Nov. 6 general election. Republican legislative leaders have thrown in the towel.
Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, filed a notice with the N.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday, Aug. 28, saying they won’t appeal a Court of Appeals decision that went against them on Monday.
“I’m grateful Senator Berger and Representative Moore have decided to save taxpayers money and abandon their efforts to change the rules in the middle of an election,” Anglin said in a written statement.
“This is a win for the Rule of Law. Now voters can determine which candidate they support without undue influence from the General Assembly,” John Burns, Anglin’s attorney, said in the release.
Moore, Berger, the Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, and board Executive Director Kim Strach were named as defendants in Anglin’s lawsuit. The legislative leaders said they were ending their appeals in light of the appellate ruling.
The lawmakers said in their notice they “strongly disagree with that determination, but, in the interests of allowing the Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement to finalize the content to appear on the ballot and to avoid unintentionally furthering voter confusion about the status of these candidates or the ballot itself, Petitioners will not seek further review of the trial court’s preliminary injunction order in this Court.”
Anglin now will be the second Republican on the fall ballot, joining incumbent Barbara Jackson. Democrat Anita Earls also is running.