With just over a month remaining before he would be forced by state law to retire due to age limitations, North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Douglas McCullough, a Republican, tendered his resignation effective Monday to Gov. Roy Cooper.

Cooper nominated former Court of Appeals Judge John Arrowood, a Democrat, to replace McCullough, and he was sworn in at 9:45 a.m. The move reduced the majority of Republicans on the court  to a 10-5 margin.

“After his nonstop rhetoric about ‘partisan politics having no place on the judges’ bench,’ Gov. Cooper needs to explain why he put his partisan allegiance above the voters by singlehandedly changing the party makeup of the Court of Appeals with a Democrat who was soundly rejected by them in 2014,” said Amy Auth, a spokeswoman for Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.

“I am deeply appreciative to Judge McCullough for his service to our state and our country,” Cooper said.

“I’m proud to appoint Judge Arrowood to fill this vacancy on the Court of Appeals, a court where he has previously served with distinction. His experience as a judge on this court makes him uniquely qualified to hit the ground running and ensure that justice is swiftly delivered.”

Cooper’s decision to replace a Republican judge with a Democrat could be interpreted as a politically charged move. It comes just three days after he vetoed House Bill 239, which would have decreased the number of Appeals Court judges from 15 to 12.

Arrowood finished second in a 2014 Court of Appeals race that featured 19 candidates.

In vetoing the bill, Cooper said:

“Having three fewer judges will increase the court’s workload and delay timely appeals. Just as bad is the real motivation of Republican legislators, which is to stack the court with judges of their own party. Earlier this session, Republican legislators already injected partisan politics into our courts by slapping political party labels on all judicial races,” he said in a news release.

“A bipartisan group of former state Supreme Court chief justices said that H.B. 239 would ‘seriously harm our judicial system,’ and ‘hurt the people of our state,’ ” Cooper said. “In addition, I believe this legislation is unconstitutional, and we should all be concerned about unwarranted attacks on the judiciary.”

According to a press release from Cooper’s office on Monday, McCullough notified the governor’s general counsel by phone over the weekend to alert him of his decision to resign. Judge McCullough resigned from the Court of Appeals effective at 9:30 a.m. in a letter that was sent to Cooper this morning.

Arrowood is a North Carolina native who previously served on the Court of Appeals and as a Superior Court Judge. After graduating with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Arrowood served as a clerk for Court of Appeals Judge Gerald Arnold. He was a staff attorney and head of the central staff for the Appeals Court.

He has also served as a member of the North Carolina Banking Commission, the North Carolina Rules Review Commission, the North Carolina Arts Council, the North Carolina Election Law Review Commission, the North Carolina Attorney General’s Advisory Commission on Statutes, and as a member of the North Carolina Railroad Commission.

Arrowood holds a bachelor of arts degree from Catawba College, and currently practices law in Charlotte.