In an otherwise grim election for Democrats, North Carolina progressives celebrated a victory that, while receiving little attention nationally, had the potential to deliver big results in the state: A black Democrat named Mike Morgan defeated the state’s most senior associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court, tilting the court’s balance of power in favor of Democrats.

In recent years, North Carolina’s highest court has become the arbiter of some of the state’s most controversial issues. A series of voting rights cases have wound up with the court’s conservative majority, which has steadfastly rejected claims that the state legislature has drawn voting maps that have disenfranchised minority voters. As a new round of redistricting from the Republican-controlled legislature looms, which will undoubtedly result in legal challenges by Democrats, the court’s newly elected liberal composition carries wide implications, and is a bright spot for the state’s embattled progressives.

But, last Thursday, the John Locke Foundation, an influential conservative think tank based in Raleigh, began openly floating a plan on its website for Republicans to use legislation to preserve the court majority they lost in the state’s popular vote. According to the plan, legislators could swiftly add two additional seats to the state supreme court, and Republican Governor McCrory would appoint the new justices before New Year’s Day. Thus, when he is sworn in in January, the new Justice Morgan would find himself in a Democratic minority. (Although McCrory appears to have lost his seat to Democrat Roy Cooper, pending a recount, McCrory would still have the ability to make the court appointments during his final weeks in office.)

Discussion of the potential court-packing plan has now reached a fever pitch in the state’s political circles, as the state’s highest Republican leaders have steadfastly refused to comment on whether or not they intend to do it. “We’re not issuing statements or comments on it at all,” said Joseph Kyzer, spokesperson for Republican Tim Moore, speaker of the state House of Representatives. Kyzer told The New Republic that the discussion of possible court appointments centered on “rumors,” but declined to confirm or deny the existence of the alleged plan.

In a state where Republicans have sometimes allowed mere hours for public review of major pieces of legislation—such as the now-famous law known as HB2 that restricts protections for transgendered people—the absence of an official denial from Republicans has left Democrats fearing the worst.