{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Matt Smith","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"REP","person":{"biography":"**Status update: Smith lost the March 3, 2026 Republican primary for NC Court of Appeals, Seat 1, in a close statewide race, receiving 283,649 votes (48.5%) to Michael C. Byrne's 301,726 votes (51.5%); he will not appear on the November 2026 general-election ballot [4].**\n\nMatthew Brian Smith is a Republican candidate for North Carolina Court of Appeals, Seat 1 in North Carolina's 2026 elections. The North Carolina State Board of Elections' 2026 candidate filing list shows Matthew Brian Smith filing as a REP candidate on December 1, 2025 [1].\n\nAccording to the North Carolina voter file, Matthew Brian Smith is a registered voter in Union County, North Carolina, registered since 2008 (18 years), with party affiliation listed as Republican [2]. NC's bulk voter export publishes only year of birth, not a full date; the voter file lists Matthew Brian Smith's year of birth as 1972 [2].\n\nThe voter history file shows 12 elections voted in since 2016, most recently the March 3, 2026 primary election [3].\n\nNo additional published biographical information beyond the candidate filing and voter records was located. Voters with personal knowledge of Matthew Brian Smith can reach ballotproject.org with corrections or additions.\n\n## Sources\n[1] [North Carolina State Board of Elections, 2026 Candidate Filing List](https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Elections/2026/Candidate%20Filing/Candidate_Listing_2026.csv) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-21\n\n[2] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter registration file, accessed 2026-07-21 (https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/)\n\n[3] North Carolina State Board of Elections voter history file (`ncvhis_Statewide`), accessed 2026-07-21 (https://dl.ncsbe.gov/)\n\n[4] North Carolina State Board of Elections, 2026 primary election results (`results_pct_20260303`), published at [dl.ncsbe.gov](https://dl.ncsbe.gov/) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-24","firstname":"Matthew","lastname":"Smith","middlename":"Brian","suffix":null,"token":"83a2c9dc1743325d"},"token":"IZtlHRVc-f0U5cXr"},{"candidatename":"Michael C. Byrne","chatgptsummary":null,"notes":null,"party":"REP","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nMichael Christopher Byrne is the Republican candidate for Seat 1 on the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 2026 election. He defeated Matt Smith in the March 3, 2026 Republican primary, 51.5% to 48.5% (301,726 votes to 283,649), and faces incumbent Democrat John S. Arrowood in the November 3, 2026 general election [1].\n\n## Background and education\n\nByrne was raised in Wake County. He is a graduate of Millbrook High School, holds a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University, and earned his law degree from Campbell University School of Law [1]. He is 58 years old and lives in Cary, North Carolina, with his wife and their rescue dog, Tilda [2].\n\n## Career\n\nByrne has served as an Administrative Law Judge for the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) since 2020. By his own account, he has authored nearly 400 opinions in that role and, before it, litigated 272 cases within the OAH as an attorney representing law-enforcement officers and public employees, in addition to personally arguing more than 20 cases before the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court [2]. Nine of his decisions as a judge have been appealed to the Court of Appeals, and all nine were unanimously affirmed [3].\n\nByrne has been endorsed by three of North Carolina's largest police organizations -- the National Association of Police Organizations, the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police, and the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association -- described as an unprecedented \"trifecta\" of endorsements in a North Carolina judicial primary [4].\n\n## Sources\n\n- [1] [Michael Byrne (North Carolina) - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Michael_Byrne_(North_Carolina))\n- [2] [Michael C. Byrne | The Election Hub](https://www.theelectionhub.org/mecklenburg-county/michael-c.-byrne/2026-primary/north-carolina)\n- [3] [Administrative Law Judge Byrne: Winning As an Attorney and as a Judge](https://www.sspba.org/gen/articles/Administrative_Law_Judge_Byrne___Winning__As_an_Attorney_and_as_a_Judge_1083.jsp)\n- [4] [GOP's Byrne earns trifecta of endorsements in Court of Appeals race from state's 'BIG THREE' police groups](https://dailyhaymaker.com/gops-byrne-earns-trifecta-of-endorsements-in-court-of-appeals-race-from-states-big-three-police-groups/)","firstname":"Michael","lastname":"Byrne","middlename":"Christopher","suffix":null,"token":"1ab9e68f4b5861f1"},"token":"lgvj7llfPlAsbgkq"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":null,"o.office":"court_of_appeals","office":"court_of_appeals","officedescription":"An appellate judge (North Carolina Court of Appeals or Supreme Court) reviews decisions of the trial courts for legal error, sitting in panels and deciding cases on the briefs, record, and argument rather than holding trials. The Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort.","officequalities":"- Review of trial-court decisions for legal error, deciding cases on the record, briefs, and oral argument rather than by trial.\n- Deep command of substantive and procedural law and of controlling precedent, since appellate rulings bind the courts below.\n- Judicial temperament and impartiality under the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct, including recusal when conflicts arise.\n- Clear, reasoned legal writing \u2014 appellate opinions are the law other courts follow.\n- Collegiality: appellate judges decide in panels and must persuade and be persuaded.\n- Integrity and independence from political or financial influence.","officeterm":8,"officetitle":"Court of Appeals Judge","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"Nc Court Of Appeals Judge Seat 01"}