RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Judge Donna Stroud will be the next leader of the North Carolina Court of Appeals with her appointment as chief judge by outgoing Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley.

Stroud, a registered Republican and former Wake County district judge, has served on the court since 2007.

Starting Friday she replaces Linda McGee, who didn't seek reelection this year and is leaving the 15-member court. So is Judge Wanda Bryant, who held the most seniority after McGee and also didn't run.

Beasley, who announced the appointment Tuesday, isn't obligated to choose the chief judge by seniority. Still, Stroud will now have the longest continuous tenure on the intermediate-level appeals court, which meets in three-judge panels to hear cases.

Beasley also appointed Court of Appeals Judge Chris Dillon as chair of the Judicial Standards Commission, succeeding Bryant.

The next Supreme Court chief justice is Associate Justice Paul Newby, a Republican who narrowly defeated the Democrat Beasley last month.