Michael Byrne (North Carolina)
Michael Byrne (Republican Party) is running for election for the Seat 1 judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on March 3, 2026.[source]
Byrne completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Michael Byrne earned a high school diploma from Millbrook High School, a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University, and a law degree from Campbell University. Byrne's career experience includes working as an administrative law judge.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: North Carolina intermediate appellate court elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur 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) are running 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael Byrne completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Byrne's responses.
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After several years of trial and appellate practice in NC’s State and Federal courts, Judge Byrne restricted his law practice to representing law enforcement and public employees in the NC Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), Superior Court, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court. Between 2005 and 2020, he appeared in over 270 cases in OAH, serving as a referral attorney for multiple law enforcement organizations.
Judge Byrne litigated more than 20 cases in the Court of Appeals as an attorney, including law enforcement and correctional officers who were wrongfully fired or otherwise disciplined. Cases he won on behalf of NC law enforcement are now regularly cited in similar cases by OAH and the Court of Appeals. Judge Byrne also submitted amicus (friend of the court) briefs in Court of Appeals and Supreme Court cases for public employee and law enforcement groups.
In June 2020, Judge Byrne was sworn in as an Administrative Law Judge, where in just over five years he has issued almost 400 Final Decisions (opinions). He writes his decisions himself instead of delegating this important work to others. His top priority is giving fair hearings to all parties.
Nine of Judge Byrne’s decisions were later appealed to the Court of Appeals. All were unanimously affirmed (upheld) by the Court of Appeals, most recently in October 2025.- While I am lifelong North Carolina Republican, there is no such thing as Democrat or Republican justice. I do not have a "side" when it comes to the law. Judges who take partisanship into account in their work undermine public trust and confidence in the fairness of the legal system.
- My judicial philosophy is summarized by the one-sentence directive the Chief Judge at the Office of Administrative Hearings gave him when he first started there: “Get it right.”
- I believe passionately in due process, fairness, giving all sides a chance to be heard, and deciding cases strictly based on the law, without fear or favor.
- North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police (FOP): part of the nation's largest police fraternal organization
- North Carolina Police Benevolent Association (PBA): NC's largest law enforcement organization
- National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO: 241,000 sworn officers and 1,000 police organizations nationwide
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
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Candidate North Carolina Court of Appeals Seat 1 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 1, 2026
