LUMBERTON — Vanessa Burton can now ascend to the position of District Court 16B judge, having won a close election and just dodging any further delay for litigation.
“I did not appeal,” said Jack Moody, Burton’s opponent in the general election.
Moody, a Republican, had until Wednesday to appeal the State Board of Elections’ decision to declare Burton, a Democrat, the winner of the political contest.
“No appeal was filed,” state board spokesman Patrick Gannon said Thursday. “The state board plans to issue a certificate of election to Ms. Burton this week, possibly today.”
Once the certificate is issued, there is no additional administrative step on the part of the state board that stands in the way of Burton assuming her judicial duties, he said.
“We did not appeal, not because we didn’t believe there was no corruption going on,” said Moody, who works as a public defender.
He and his attorney decided the constraints at the state level would make a successful appeal unlikely, Moody said. They would have been limited with presenting evidence that already had been heard by the State Board of Elections.
Politics also played a part in his decision, Moody said. He said any vote on an appeal by the five-person board would have been along party lines, and his appeal would have been rejected.
The state board is comprised of three Democrats and two Republicans.
Moody said politics also played a part in the fact that his complaints about ballot-handling irregularities in the 16B race were not acted on by the Republican Party.
“They were more concerned about keeping Mark Harris and decided not to take my complaints,” Moody said of GOP leadership.
Harris was the Republican candidate in the race for the N.C. District 9 seat in the U.S. House that became embroiled in controversy regarding the handling of absentee ballots. The State Board of Elections launched an investigation that led to a board order to hold a new election. Harris chose not to run for the office again. His Democratic opponent, Dan McCready, is running again. There are 10 Republicans in the primary, which is May 14.
Whether or not Moody will run again for an elected office is in doubt.
“I have not made any decision,” he said.
Moody twice was nominated by the local Bar Association for a judicial seat, the last time in 2017, but each time the governor appointed someone else.
Burton could not be reached for comment. She works as an assistant district attorney.
The drama in the 16B contest began in November. The vote count taken after the Nov. 6 general election showed Moody won the District Court 16B seat by 138 votes. His lead was cut to 77 after absentee ballots were tallied. After provisional ballots were counted on Nov. 15, Moody trailed Burton by 71 votes.
Burton’s margin of victory was below the 1 percent of all votes cast threshold that permits a recount request. Moody was granted a recount, the results of which showed Burton had 15,382 votes to Moody’s 15,315, a margin of 67.
