Christine Marie Walczyk

The Election Hub Questionnaire

Please provide demographic information about yourself to help voters (age, education, current occupation, where you live).

I am 54 years old and live in Raleigh. I am currently serving as a district court judge in the Tenth Judicial District (Wake County).

I was born in Raleigh but spent much of my childhood in South Florida, returning to North Carolina in 1992 to attend law school.

As a child, I was an athlete, participating in cross-country running, soccer, and softball. I was an avid soccer player and continued playing until the pandemic. Today, I enjoy watching women’s soccer at all levels.

I graduated magna cum laude from the Boston College Carroll School of Management with a degree in Management and a concentration in Finance, and I earned my Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill in 1995. My specialized judicial training covers a broad range of topics, including advanced training in child development and child custody, equitable distribution, criminal sentencing, and implicit bias.

Why are you running for this role and why should voters pick you? Please share your previous experience in elected office that would be relevant to voters.

I am the most experienced district court judge in Wake County, and among the longest serving trial judges in our state. I was first appointed to the bench in 2007 by the Governor, and I stood for election five times between 2008 and 2024.

As a judge, I was nominated for leadership positions by four different chief judges, both Democrat and Republican.  I was Lead Judge in domestic court judge for many years, and I currently serve as the Lead Judge in general civil court judge.  Serving as a Lead Judge in the Tenth Judicial District brings with it additional responsibilities and time commitments but also allows me to work with various stakeholders in the judicial system to improve the process.

Before I came to the bench, I owned my own law firm with Senator Lisa Grafstein.  We started our firm because we wanted the freedom to represent regular people and be a voice for marginalized populations. We typically represented employees, small family-run businesses, and indigent adults and juveniles charged with crimes.  For over a decade, Senator Grafstein and I defended the rule of law and the constitutional liberties of our neighbors.  We fought for equal access to justice and equal protection under the law.

I believe in public service, and I have spent my career promoting, mentoring, and supporting women, especially in the legal profession. I have served on various committees that nominate women for awards and recognition, organize judicial panels to encourage women to consider the judiciary, and partner with local non-profits to build wheelchair ramps, coordinate career counseling and driver’s license clinics, and host food and clothing drives. I was involved with the formation of the Legal Support Center of Wake County in 2023, and I still serve on its advisory board.  This is an organization inside our courthouse that matches people with pro bono attorneys and legal resources and assists those who are trying to access records or file documents.

I am running for the Court of Appeals because we need skilled and experienced judges who have the moral courage to safeguard the individual liberties guaranteed by our Constitution, including the right to free speech, the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, the right to a free and public education, and the right to vote. In these difficult times, judges must be prepared to meet the challenges ahead.  They will need a strong work ethic, the ability to navigate a broad range of laws, and the ability to write well-reasoned opinions with clarity and purpose.

I am increasingly concerned about attacks on the judiciary and the public’s loss of trust in the system.  The judiciary is meant to be a coequal branch of government that serves as a check on the other two political branches, and it cannot perform this function properly if it is weakened by the public’s loss of confidence. I want to fight for a stronger, independent judiciary that works for all people.

We also deserve a more diverse court that reflects our state.  There are eight candidates running for the Court of Appeals in 2026, and I am the only woman.  If I win, I would be the only Democratic woman left on the fifteen-person court.  I believe women and Democrats deserve a seat at the table.

Tell us 1-2 professional accomplishments you have achieved in your work experience (not limited to public service) that give voters a sense of your leadership style or skills.

While serving as Chair of the History Subcommittee of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Committee on Women in the Profession (WIP), I led the effort to publish The Changing Face of Justice: A Look at the First 100 Women Attorneys in North Carolina. The book highlighted prominent attorneys in our state, including Tabitha Holton, the first woman admitted to practice law; Ruth Whitehead Whaley, the first Black woman licensed in 1932; and Chief Justice Susie Sharp, the first woman in U.S. history elected as Chief Justice of a state Supreme Court.

During my tenure as Chair of the WIP Committee, we organized and hosted an event at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville titled The Changing Face of Justice: A View from the Bench. This continuing legal education program celebrated the book’s release. Several Chief Justices from around the nation attended, but the highlight of the program was an interview and conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, moderated by Professor Suzanne Reynolds.  Everyone in the room hung on Justice Ginsburg's every word, leaning forward to hear her soft-spoken wisdom.  The event sold out and continues to be remembered as a significant professional and educational milestone for women attorneys in North Carolina. It remains one of the most meaningful highlights of my career.

Throughout my professional career, I have worked to expand and improve equal access to justice. During the pandemic, while I was serving as Lead Judge, we were struggling to figure out how to keep courtrooms open and cases moving.  I worked with the Administrative Office of the Courts to design and implement remote courtrooms and protocols for virtual hearings. These Webex courtrooms allowed us to hear cases safely, without threatening the health of the community.  The virtual courtrooms remain in use in Wake County today and continue to provide litigants with greater flexibility. Lawyers and self-represented persons can attend calendar calls and certain hearings remotely, reducing unnecessary barriers to participation.  These efforts are just a small part of my ongoing commitment to ensuring that access to justice is meaningful, and available to all.

What endorsements from any notable North Carolina organizations or people have you received?

To date, we have been endorsed by the following:

a. North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE)

b. Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg (BPC)

c. People’s Alliance (PAC) of Durham

d. Over 25 former judges at all levels of the bench. These including Justice Cheri Beasley, Justice Robin Hudson, Chief Judge Linda McGee, Judge Wanda Bryant, Judge Lucy Inman, Judge Chris Brook, Judge Reuben Young, Judge Charles Becton, Judge Cressie Thigpen, Judge Linda Stephens, Judge Bob Hunter, Judge Yvonne Mims Evans, Judge Jane Harper, Judge Robert Rader, Judge Carl Fox, Judge Gary Cash, and more.

e. Legislators including Senate Leader Sydney Batch, Senator Lisa Grafstein, Senator Terrence Everitt, Senator Julie Mayfield, Representative Marcia Morey, Representative Pricey Harrison, Representative Deb Butler, Representative Abe Jones, and others.

f. Former Special Counsel of the United States Hampton Dellinger

g. Former Congressman Bob Etheridge.

How long have you lived in the region/district where you are running for office?

I was born in Raleigh and lived here in the 1970’s but spent much of my childhood in South Florida.  I returned to North Carolina in 1992 to attend the University of North Carolina School of Law.  I have lived here continuously for more than 30 years.

Tell us something unexpected about yourself that voters may be interested to know.

Though I am not a politician and consider myself somewhat introverted, I do have a spontaneous and adventurous side to my personality.  On one of my birthdays, I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. I have driven across state lines to catch a great concert, played guitar with a friend at an open-mic night, snorkeled with sharks in the Florida Keys, and once, a long time ago, drove with friends from Florida’s east coast to its west just to watch the sunrise and the sunset in the same day.