In 2026, the Democratic Party must defend the only three seats it currently holds on the 15-member N.C. Court of Appeals. We recently met with Judge John Arrowood, who is seeking re-election to the Court of Appeals this fall.

Judge Arrowood’s prior experience includes serving as a special superior court judge as well as working as a partner at James, McElroy & Diehl, PA. He is an American Arbitration Association-accredited arbitrator and a certified mediator. He also has experience as a staff attorney for the Court of Appeals.

Below, Arrowood discusses his pitch to voters; the ways in which our state courts are increasingly viewed as having a partisan bias; his fellow statewide judicial candidates; and more.

How would you summarize your judicial philosophy?

Well, my judicial philosophy is quite simple. It's to render equal justice under the law, to all the citizens of the state of North Carolina. It also includes defending the constitutional rights, both the federal and the state constitutional rights, of all the residents here. I am to render justice as required by my oath without favoritism to any party or to the state or to any branch of the government of the state.

How does the Court of Appeals affect the lives of everyday North Carolinians?

The Court of Appeals is the court of last resort for over 90 percent of the cases. In 2023, the General Assembly did away with the right of automatic appeal from the Court of Appeals to the [state] Supreme Court. Up until that time, we sit in panels of three, and, if it was a 2-1 vote, you could automatically take your case to the Supreme Court. Now, the Supreme Court has to vote to take [a case]. So we are the court of last resort for over 90 percent of the appeals.

What kind of appeals do we take? We hear all of the appeals from criminal cases, except those where the death penalty has been imposed. We hear all the civil disputes of civil cases, commercial civil cases, except those from the business court. We hear all domestic relations cases. Divorce, custody, all of those cases. We hear all the termination of parental rights cases, all the abuse and neglect cases. We also hear all of the cases from the administrative agencies, which could be a licensing dispute. It could be a workers' comp – whether a citizen is properly being compensated for their injury on the job. We hear some utilities cases. But only cases from the utilities commission that are not general rate cases. We also hear all the other cases from the Office of Administrative Hearings. It’s a very voluminous court, and if someone has a right to appeal, we don't have a right to say no. We hear it.

What's your pitch? Why should people vote for you this November?

I believe that I am uniquely qualified to sit on the Court of Appeals. I began my career early on, clerking there as a staff attorney and the head of the staff. I was there for almost five years doing that. Then, I spent over 25 years in private practice, representing individuals, small businesses, family businesses, municipalities on occasion. In a wide range of civil commercial disputes. I had a complex commercial litigation practice. I was a superior court judge for a short period of time.

I've been on the court over 10 years. I have a record [that] if people study, they won't agree with everything I've written. I don't agree with everything I have written because sometimes I'm constrained by precedent. … But, if you look at my body of work, you will find that I am fair and impartial and do a good job. And I also think I have a reputation of not only doing good work but doing it timely, which is what I learned when I was in private practice and representing people before the court. They wanted a decision on their case, whether they won or lost, so they could then decide what the rest of life was. I pride myself on pushing my clerks to help me get cases out timely so that the litigants can move on with their lives.

What is something you would change about how the North Carolina courts work?

I think we should go back to public financing of appellate courts. I think that they should reinstate the right of automatic appeal to the Supreme Court. I would like to get back to a day when the courts are seen as less partisan than they are today. I'd like to instill in people that, whether you're having a Republican judge or a Democratic judge, you're going to have a fair hearing. And I'm not sure that people always feel that way these days.

FLIP NC is extremely disturbed by the ways the courts have moved to the right. GOP extremism is very prevalent. Can you speak about extremism on the court and your views about the damage that does?

An example of what I think you are probably talking about are the decisions to some extent in the Riggs v. Griffin cases, where certain members of the court appeared to be willing to change the rules of an election after it happened. There is a perception at least – whether it is true or not, I'll let the voters decide – that the court views whatever the legislature wants to do, the legislature should be able to do. And I think our courts are a check and a balance, and I believe that that's what our constitution sets up – a check and balance system, where we protect the people from overreach of the legislature. We protect the other branches of government from an overreach of the legislature. We protect the people when the executive overreaches, and we protect the legislature when the executive is attempting to exercise legislative powers. We are a check and balance. And I think that we need to take that very seriously.

Voters will be electing three people to the N.C. Court of Appeals in 2026 – the only three seats currently held by Democrats on that 15-member court are up for grabs this fall. Your fellow Democratic candidates are incumbent Judge Toby Hampson and Judge Christine Walczyk, a Wake County district court judge running for an open seat. Can you say a few words about your fellow candidates?

Judge Hampson clerked for several judges at the Court of Appeals. He was then an appellate specialist. He is one of the few, if not the only, person who's ever had the title of an appellate specialist. The State Bar gives those titles. You have to do a rigorous background and pass a test and do all of those things. He's one of the few appellate specialists we've ever had. If you look at his opinions, you will find them to be well reasoned. And I would particularly point people to his dissent in the Griffin v. Riggs case. I think if you look at the federal court's decision, you will see strains of what Judge Hampson may have written there. He's bright. He's hardworking. He is a family man with three daughters who keep him busy at soccer and cheer practice. His wife's a lawyer, and they're raising an amazing family.

Judge Walczyk was in private practice. She is the senior district court judge in Wake County. She’s not the chief judge, but she is the most experienced district court judge. She has spent her career as a judge encouraging women to run for office, encouraging women to enter the profession, encouraging judicial independence through her work with the local, state, and national bar associations. She brings a wide variety of depth to the bench. And I believe, if you talk to the lawyers in Wake County, they will tell you that she is widely respected for her legal acumen.

What do you think voters should know about Justice Anita Earls, who is seeking re-election on the State Supreme Court?

*Judge Arrowood, Justice Earls, and Judge Hampson*

Justice Earls has spent her career protecting people's right to vote, protecting people’s individual liberties. Her time on the court has proven that she is fearless. An intellectual, willing to stand up for what she believes is right. And she has, as I said, spent a career before coming to the bench, defending people's voting rights, defending people's general rights. At the Justice Department, at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, at Ferguson and Stein. You can see that passion when you read her work at the court. I thought her Leandro dissent was particularly telling.

FLIP NC is committed to bringing attention to state judicial races. Explain why that’s important – to pay attention to all judicial elections, all the time.

North Carolina is, at its base, a purple state, divided about 50-50 in how people view their political leanings. If you look at the Court of Appeals, there are 15 of us. We are elected in statewide races. And the only three Democrats left are Judge Hampson, me, and Judge Collins who is not running [again]. Judge Walczyk is running for that seat.

You would not expect, in a 50-50 state, that you would have that partisan breakdown. And what you need to have at the court – you don't need a 12-3 or a 15-0 Republican court or a Democratic court. You need a court that's balanced because people learn from each other. When you're in a room with people, they learn from your perspective. They see a set of facts from your perspective, and sometimes you see a set of facts from their perspective. And so, it is important to have a court that is balanced. At the Supreme Court, it's 5-2. The same thing. And what you see when you have a Court that is 5- 2, who heard a gerrymandering case only four months after it had been decided, and you go from a 7-7 map of congressional folks to now, a 10-4 and perhaps if the Republicans have their way, 11-3, then you see a need for a court that would establish balance. For people to have confidence in their court, they need to see a court that hears all the sides of the issues. And that are not partisan in the Democratic way or partisan in a Republican way because the courts should be rendering equal justice under the law, in my opinion.

What has happened, to some extent, is the Republicans have had a plan, while, to some extent, the Democrats have been playing checkers with each individual race. The Republicans have had a plan and are playing chess, and you can see no more evidence of that plan than in the Helene recovery bill that some might label a power grab bill. It’s always been the governor's prerogative, be they a Democrat or a Republican governor, when there's a vacancy on the court, to appoint who they want to appoint. Democratic governors usually appointed Democratic folks. Republican governors usually appointed Republican folks, regardless of the party of the person leaving. The legislature changed that to say that the governor had to appoint from a list from the party chair of the party of the judge leaving. You now probably understand why they may be so interested in these three [Court of Appeals] seats because it will be a perpetuation.

You’ve been hard at work – traversing the state, reaching out to voters. What are you hearing from them?

I think they're looking for a judge who is willing to render equal justice, who is willing to not see a thumb on the scale for the state or for a corporate defendant or for an individual defendant. They are looking for balance on their court. They are looking for a court that's willing to act as a check and balance to the other branches of government.

What’s your advice to anyone seeking to get involved this year? To anyone who is planning on talking to voters in the coming months?

Learn about the candidates. Encourage their friends and family, the folks in their house of worship, the folks in their civic clubs, the folks in their fraternities and sororities to vote and to be an informed voter and to vote the ticket all the way down. Don't just stop at [U.S. Senate candidate Roy] Cooper or Justice Earls. Vote the ticket all the way down. We've seen, in North Carolina, a tremendous drop-off as you go down. From Governor Stein to Justice Riggs [in 2024], there was a huge drop-off, and from Justice Riggs to the Court of Appeals, there was a drop-off.

If they want to be more actively involved, they can go knock doors, make phone calls. And probably the best avenue for that right now is their county parties. They have the ability to connect them with organizations that are doing this work, for judicial candidates in particular.

How can folks help you in the months before the election?

KeepJudgeArrowood.com. Money is important. Talk to their friends about me, about who I am. I was a kid born in rural Yancey County. My parents died when I was 15. I went to live with my brother, who was a state trooper, and his wife and daughter. I was, I think, the first person in my family to obtain a four-year college degree.

I was the first and only openly LGBTQ person to ever win a statewide race in the South. Know and talk about my record. I'm the most experienced Democratic judge at the court, and I've got a record, and if they talk to folks, even if they talk to some of my Republican colleagues, some of them would tell them that I'm a good judge. Not all of them. Some of them.

It’s not the easiest time to be in government, and it’s not the easiest time to be a candidate for office. What is providing you hope these days? Where do you turn to for joy and laughter in these heavy times?

Hope: I do have an abiding belief that the people of North Carolina are good, decent people who want their children to have a better life than they did, who want to help their neighbors who are less fortunate than they are, who want to have a society where everyone can get a good, sound, basic education with the ability to reach the height of their ability to go on to either community college or university, to get a good job, to be able to raise their family, however they want to constitute their family. To live their lives without a substantial amount of government interference. But at the same time, [they] understand that government is a vehicle to help folks and to help reach all of those things that they would like. I do believe that that's what the people of North Carolina, the majority of people in North Carolina, are. That gives me hope. That they will see the need to stop the trends that we are now seeing and to move forward.

My faith gives me hope. I'm a longtime parishioner at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, and my faith gives me hope in the goodness of folks and the basic goodness of human beings.

What brings me joy and laughter? To be able to go to a fun theater production. To get on a plane and go to Provincetown and sit on the beach. Those are the things that bring me joy and laughter. I just saw Every Brilliant Thing in New York with Daniel Radcliffe. Just a delightful production.

North Carolina-Themed Speed Round

Favorite N.C. Attraction or Landmark

I really like the Biltmore House, particularly at Christmas.

Favorite Annual Tradition in N.C.

I really like the Summer Pops in Charlotte, where the symphony does a pop series outside, generally around the Fourth of July.

Favorite N.C./Southern Food

Hush puppies. They're not good for you, but they're good.

Favorite Way to Enjoy N.C.’s Great Outdoors

To sit on the beach.

Favorite Artist or Celebrity Associated with N.C.

Maya Angelou.

Favorite Book or Movie Associated with Our State

Dirty Dancing. It's not in North Carolina, but it was filmed here, up in Chimney Rock and Flat Rock, in that area. Just classic, fun, a little bit risqué. But a classic, fun romance.