Michael Byrne, a Republican, is running for North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge, Seat 1, in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. Democrat John S. Arrowood is also running for the seat.

Asked why he is seeking the office, Byrne said in our candidate questionnaire: "For the same reason I became an Administrative Law Judge in 2020 - to serve the public."

Candidate information

Birthplace and hometown: Byrne was born in Ames, Iowa, and moved to North Carolina when he was 5, according to WCTI12. He grew up in Wake County.

Residence: Byrne lives in Cary, N.C., with his wife, Brigette, and their dog, Tilda, according to his campaign website.

Family: Asked about his family in our questionnaire, Byrne said: "I've been married to my wife Brigette for 20 years. We have one grown son and are about to become grandparents for the first time."

Family in government: Asked whether anyone in his family works in politics or government, Byrne said: "No. My father is a retired state employee and my mother is a retired public school teacher."

Education: In our questionnaire, Byrne listed: "JD, Campbell University School of Law" and "BA, English, with honors, North Carolina State University."

Party: Republican.

Experience and public service

In our questionnaire, Byrne described his current role as "June 2020 - present: Administrative Law Judge, NC Office of Administrative Hearings." He added: "Prior to taking office I was a trial and appellate attorney for 25 years, litigating more than 20 cases in the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court and assisting on several others. I appeared in hundreds of trial cases including 270+ in the Office of Administrative Hearings alone."

Asked about previous elected or appointed offices, Byrne said: "None; I was a trial and appellate litigation attorney for 25 years."

Byrne said he served as editor of the Campbell Law Observer while at Campbell University School of Law, according to his campaign website.

On the issues

What accomplishments show you can handle this job? Byrne said: "The COA requires judges who get the law right (see above) and who get the work done. I've written more than 400 decisions as an Administrative Law Judge and can provably keep up with that court's significant workload."

How does your experience as an administrative law judge prepare you for the Court of Appeals? Byrne said: "As stated, my job prepares me to write accurate (and often very complex) decisions without delay. Also, as an ALJ I am required to find the facts of each case, and have done so in hundreds of cases. This makes me uniquely qualified to do the job of an appellate judge in determining whether the lower court's fact finding is supported by the evidence in the record."

How do you approach cases where a statute's text is ambiguous? Byrne said: "There is case law precedent for this process and I follow it. The ultimate obligation is to follow the General Assembly's intent in enacting the statute at issue."

Critical differences from other candidates: Byrne said: "I will not state or imply anything negative about my opponent. I can say that I have decades of experience in the very complex field of administrative law, which is needed on the appellate courts. I also get the law right - as a judge I have been appealed to the Court of Appeals ten times and in all ten cases I was unanimously affirmed."

Best advice: Byrne said: "The judge who hired me sat me down on the first day of the job and said: 'Michael, get the law right.'"

Byrne claimed endorsements from the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations and the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, according to Mountain Xpress.