Matt Smith (North Carolina)
Matt Smith (Republican Party) ran for election for the Seat 1 judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He was on the ballot in the Republican primary on March 3, 2026.[source]
Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Matt Smith graduated from Sun Valley High School. Smith earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1991 and a law degree from Campbell Law School in 2002. Smith's career experience includes serving as a judge.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: North Carolina intermediate appellate court elections, 2026
General election
The primary occurred on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 1
Incumbent John S. Arrowood (D) is running in the general election for North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 1 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | John S. Arrowood (D) | |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary
The Democratic primary scheduled for March 3, 2026, was canceled. Incumbent John S. Arrowood (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 1 without appearing on the ballot.
Republican primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Republican primary for North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 1
Michael Byrne (R) and Matt Smith (R) ran in the Republican primary for North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 1 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Michael Byrne | |
 | Matt Smith | |
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matt Smith completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Smith's responses.
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A lifelong resident of Union County, where currently lives with his wife and children, he graduated from Sun Valley High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations and Psychology from the UNC-Chapel Hill in May of 1997. Judge Smith earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Campbell University School of Law in May of 2002. While in law school, he was an Articles Editor of the Campbell University Law Review and graduated cum laude.
Judge Smith spent nearly 19 years as a trial lawyer practicing in both District and Superior Courts, the last 10+ years running his own law firm. Prior to taking the Bench as a judge, he practiced law as a trial attorney for over 18 years. He worked in a firm for 8 years, then founded and operated his own firm for more than a decade. He practiced in criminal and civil courts. Smith was elected as a District Court Bench, then elected as a Superior Court Judge and has served in that role since.
As a Superior Court Judge he has presided over courts across NC, hearing nearly every type of case that comes before the Court of Appeals.- Experienced and dedicated to the rule of law.
- Believes only the law as written should guide a judge to the result in a case.
- We just strive to maintain the public’s trust in our justice system.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 21, 2026
