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 at age 5, growing up in Wake County, according to his response to WCTI12. He lives in Cary, according to his campaign website.

Party: "Republican," Byrne said in our questionnaire.

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

Family: "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," Byrne said in our questionnaire.

Family in politics or government: "No. My father is a retired state employee and my mother is a retired public school teacher," Byrne said in our questionnaire.

Experience and public service

Asked about his work history, Byrne said in our questionnaire: "June 2020 - present: Administrative Law Judge, NC Office of Administrative Hearings … 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 in our questionnaire: "None; I was a trial and appellate litigation attorney for 25 years."

On the issues

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

"The COA requires judges who get the law right … 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," Byrne said in our questionnaire.

How does your experience as an administrative law judge prepare you for the Court of Appeals?

"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," Byrne said in our questionnaire.

What are the critical differences between you and other candidates seeking this post?

"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," Byrne said in our questionnaire.

How do you approach cases where a statute's text is ambiguous?

"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," Byrne said in our questionnaire.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

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

Byrne said he has been endorsed by the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations and the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association, according to his response to Mountain Xpress.