The contest for a single N.C. Court of Appeals seat involves 19 people, and covers an entire page of Nov. 4 electronic ballot.

John Arrowood, a Mecklenburg lawyer and former judge, was the only one of the 19 present Tuesday when the Forum heard from candidates in statewide judicial races.

The long ballot, 19 people vying for a single judgeship, resuted from a retirement by Chief Judge John Martin, announced on July 9 and effective Aug. 1, both dates falling after the May 6 primary. So there was no primary to narrow the field. Lisa Bell was appointed to the seat through the end of the year by Gov. Pat McCrory, but she is not a candidate in the election to fill the seat permanently.

The nominally nonpartisan race has been anything but this year. The GOP-dominated legislature abandoned the A-to-Z name listing traditional in nonpartisan races, and specified that names be listed in backwards alpha order beginning with W. That had the effect, Arrowood said, of clustering Republicans at the top of the ballot. The Republican Party endorsed one of its own, John Tyson, then the Democrats followed suit by endorsing Arrowood.

The two videos posted below include Arrowood’s introductory remarks, then all of the answers he offered during the Q&A that followed. He shared the presentation table with Mark Davis, a candidate for a different Court of Appeals seat.