After a weeks-long fight to win reelection in the N.C. Supreme Court chief justice race — an effort which included formal protests in more than 90 counties around the state, including Chatham — incumbent Chief Justice Cheri Beasley (D) conceded defeat to challenger Justice Paul Newby (R) on Saturday in an unexpected conclusion to the political pugilism.
“Today I called Justice Newby to congratulate him on winning the election for Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court,” Beasley wrote in a statement published on Saturday. “I offer my very best to him and his family as he moves into that new role.”
The hotly disputed contest had dragged on since Election Day on Nov. 3. As in-person votes were tabulated, Newby seemed the apparent winner. But with the addition of absentee by-mail ballots rolling in through Nov. 12 (but having been postmarked by Nov. 3) Beasley briefly took the lead. The candidates continued to swap places — with just five votes separating the two at one point — but eventually Newby came out on top.
His lead endured after the state’s mandatory canvass and a recount were completed. Still, only 401 votes separated the two — a 0.0074% margin of difference in the 5.4 million total votes cast — making it the tightest statewide election in North Carolina’s election history, according to Bruce Thompson, counsel to Beasley’s campaign.
In a bid to close the gap and win back the chief justice seat, Beasley filed protests in 92 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, claiming more than 3,000 ballots had been unjustly discounted.
In Chatham, Beasley’s campaign alleged that 15 ballots had been illegally tossed out. The county board of elections was first notified of Beasley’s protests on Dec. 3. After preliminary consideration, the board determined that “the protests establish(ed) probable cause to believe that a violation of election law or irregularity or misconduct may have occurred,” according to an official notice.
But board of election members were not supplied at the time with a comprehensive argument in support of the protests.
“We were not allowed to review the actual evidence ...” Mark Barroso, a board of elections member and Democrat, said. “It was just, did they file the right paperwork? Did they do it in a timely manner? And is there enough reason to grant them a hearing?”
A formal hearing was scheduled for Dec. 11, at which time representatives for the Beasley campaign would have had the opportunity to argue her case in favor of adding the 15 ballots back into the statewide vote count. But the hearing never happened.
“There being no issues in dispute, the Beasley campaign dismissed their protest ...” said Wade Barber, a longtime Chatham lawyer who spearheaded the campaign’s efforts in the county. “In every instance, the Chatham board of elections and its staff carefully followed the procedures established by the state. I was also impressed that the staff was diligent in notifying and giving voters the opportunity to remedy any concerns about their applications.”
What does it mean for Chatham?
Supreme Court justice races are not usually the subject of considerable attention. But the chief justice holds considerable sway in the judicial policy and practice of the state’s highest court and beyond.
Besides serving as one of the court’s seven jurists, the chief justice is endowed with authority to make several unilateral decisions. For example, it is up to the chief justice to outline the state judicial system’s response to catastrophic events, a responsibility which has been tested since the coronavirus pandemic began.
On Friday, prior to her concession, Beasley stopped all but essential business in all state courts citing recent spikes in COVID-19 cases. After North Carolina achieved a disturbing new record, surpassing 7,500 positive tests in one day, she announced that all in-person, non-essential court activity would desist for 30 days. Her decision marked the strictest court restrictions since March.
“Scaling back operations ... will give local court officials an opportunity to do much needed planning to ensure that our courts are in the best possible position to protect the health and safety of employees and the public in 2021,” Beasley wrote in her order.
But in Jan. 2021, Newby will take over as chief justice; it will be up to his discretion how the court system proceeds amid the ongoing pandemic.
The chief justice also has several lesser known roles which can make tremendous impact on the lives of Chathamites and all North Carolinians. They include the responsibility to preside over impeachment trials of the Governor or Lieutenant Governor should they arise, the authority to assign trial judges to terms of superior court and the right to appoint three-judge panels to preside over certain proceedings. The latter responsibility allows the chief justice to hand select judges who will make final decisions in gerrymandering cases and with respect to claims that the General Assembly has acted unconstitutionally.
“Given these roles and responsibilities as well as many others ...,” wrote Shea Denning, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor of public law and government, “the election of a new Chief Justice can result in leadership and operational changes that extend beyond the Supreme Court bench.”
Beasley has served as Chief Justice for eight years now. With Newby taking the helm, Chatham County and the state at large can expect a different style of leadership in the judicial branch for many years to come.
Reporter D. Lars Dolder can be reached at dldolder@chathamnr.com and on Twitter @dldolder.