Cheri Beasley

Cheri Lynn Beasley[1] (born February 14, 1966) is an American attorney and jurist who served as the chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court from 2019 to 2020, a court on which she has previously served as an Associate Justice since 2012. Beasley had previously served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and as a district court judge in Cumberland County, North Carolina.[2]

Cheri Beasley
Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
In office
March 1, 2019 – December 31, 2020
Appointed byRoy Cooper
Preceded byMark Martin
Succeeded byPaul Martin Newby
Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
In office
December 12, 2012 – March 1, 2019
Appointed byBev Perdue
Preceded byPatricia Timmons-Goodson
Succeeded byMark A. Davis
Personal details
Born
Cheri Lynn Beasley

(1966-02-14) February 14, 1966
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Curtis Owens
Children2
EducationRutgers University–New Brunswick (BA)
University of Tennessee (JD)
Duke University (LLM)

She is the Democratic Party's frontrunner for the 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina.

Education

Beasley earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Douglass College of Rutgers University–New Brunswick in 1988, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1991. She also earned her Master of Laws from Duke University School of Law in 2018[3]

Career

Beasley spent her first years following law school as an assistant public defender in Cumberland County, North Carolina.[2] She was first appointed to the bench as a state district court judge by Governor Jim Hunt in 1999, and then elected in a 2002 election. She was re-elected without opposition in 2006.[4] She served as a Judge in District 12 (Cumberland County) until her election to the Court of Appeals.

Appellate judicial service

In 2008, Beasley was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, defeating incumbent Douglas McCullough by a 15 point margin.[5] In that election, Beasley became the first black woman to win election to statewide office in North Carolina without first being appointed by a governor.[6] In December 2012, after four years sitting on the Court of Appeals, Gov. Beverly Perdue appointed Beasley to the North Carolina Supreme Court, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson.[7] She was elected to a full eight-year term in 2014.[8]

On February 12, 2019, Governor Roy Cooper appointed Beasley to the position of Chief Justice following the retirement of Mark Martin, making her the first African-American woman ever to serve as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.[9]

Beasley ran for a full term as chief justice in the 2020 election, losing by 401 votes[10] to Associate Justice Paul Martin Newby.[11] After leaving office, Beasley joined the McGuireWoods appellate team.[12]

2022 U.S. Senate election
Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina

In March 2021, it became known that Beasley intended to run as a candidate in the 2022 Senate election in North Carolina, and that she would launch a bid to enter the Democratic primary that April.[13] On April 27, 2021, Beasley launched her campaign.[14]

Electoral history
North Carolina Court of Appeals seat election, 2008[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Cheri Beasley 1,706,132 57.42%
Nonpartisan Doug McCullough (incumbent) 1,265,378 42.58%
Total votes 2,971,510 100.0
North Carolina State Supreme Court seat election, 2014[16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Cheri Beasley (incumbent) 1,239,763 50.11%
Nonpartisan Mike Robinson 1,234,353 49.89%
Total votes 2,474,116 100.0
North Carolina State Supreme Court Chief Justice seat election, 2020[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Martin Newby 2,695,951 50.004
Democratic Cheri Beasley (incumbent) 2,695,550 49.996
Total votes 5,391,501 100.0

See also

References
  1. "Cheri Lynn Beasley - Profile | American Bar Association".
  2. report, A. staff and wire. "Cheri Beasley, formerly of Fayetteville, to be chief justice of NC Supreme Court". The Fayetteville Observer.
  3. https://alumni.utk.edu/s/1341/2/20/interior.aspx?pgid=13489&gid=2&cid=11485
  4. "NC Bar: 2006 results".
  5. "Meet Cheri Beasley - Cheri Beasley for North Carolina". 25 April 2021.
  6. "Article 404 - The Fayetteville Observer - Fayetteville, NC". February 13, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-02-13.
  7. News & Observer: Perdue chooses appeals court judge Beasley for Supreme Court
  8. "Voting machine problems do not change election outcome". WRAL.com. November 25, 2014.
  9. "Cheri Beasley to become first African American woman Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. February 12, 2019.
  10. "North Carolina Supreme Court elections, 2020". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  11. "Paul Newby wins North Carolina Supreme Court race as incumbent Cheri Beasley concedes". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. December 12, 2020.
  12. "Former Supreme Court of North Carolina Chief Justice Cheri Beasley Joins McGuireWoods". www.mcguirewoods.com.
  13. Murphy, Brian. "She lost by 401 votes in 2020. Now former NC chief justice is planning a US Senate run". The News& Observer. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  14. Rogers, Alex. "Beasley launches North Carolina Senate bid". CNN.
  15. "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov.
  16. "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov.
  17. "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov.
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