The North Carolina Supreme Court has dismissed a request by a Republican judge for a seat on its bench, declining to decide at this time whether over 60,000 ballots should be excluded from the final tally in his bid to unseat the leading Democratic candidate,

Republicans on the state's highest court suggested they are willing to toss Democrat Allison Riggs' election win

A political war has erupted over a state Supreme Court race in North Carolina more than two months after Democrats appeared to narrowly clinch the seat. Justice Allison Riggs, the Democratic incumbent,