Appellate Law

Various news sources are reporting that former North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Doug McCullough has a 6,700 vote lead over incumbent Court of Appeals Judge Cressie Thigpen in the race to fill the seat vacated by Judge James A. Wynn. It is highly likely that McCullough will be declared the winner because the only county left to report ? Warren County ? had less than 6,700 votes cast in this race. Initial reports had Judge Thigpen leading by tens of thousands of votes, but apparently there was some sort of error in the way that the vote totals were tracked.

If the race is decided by less than 10,000 votes, which seems likely at this point, Judge Thigpen has the ability to request a recount. According to the Virginian Pilot, linked below, Judge Thigpen's campaign has not decided whether to ask for a recount.

• WRAL - Correcting counting error leads to new leader in Court of Appeals race
  
• Off the Record (Greensboro News & Record) ? Instant runoff fiasco
  
• News & Observer ? Thigpen trails in instant runoff
  
• The Virginian-Pilot ? McCullough overtakes Thigpen in N.C. court race
  
• Winston-Salem Journal ? McCullough pulls ahead in runoff