Who is Cheri Beasley? Get to know NC Democrats’ likely nominee for US Senate
READ MORE
North Carolina U.S. Senate race
With the November election ahead, the candidates campaign across the state.
Expand All
Everything changed Thursday for U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley.
The former N.C. Supreme Court chief justice went from being embroiled in a tough primary race for U.S. Senate to being the presumptive Democratic nominee.
That happened Thursday morning when N.C. Sen. Jeff Jackson announced he would drop out of the race, weeks after Jackson’s former Senate colleague Erica Smith decided to do the same. They both handed Beasley their endorsement.
“This election is bigger than any one person,” Beasley said in a written statement to The News & Observer. “It is about the people of our state, and having a senator who will fight to lower healthcare costs, create good-paying jobs, take action on climate change, and work hard for every person in our state — no matter what your zip code is or how much money you make.”
Cheri Beasley
Beasley, 55, is a trailblazer.
Three different governors have appointed her to various judicial benches. Former Gov. Jim Hunt appointed her in 1999 to serve as a Cumberland County District Court judge before appointing her to the Supreme Court in 2012. Gov. Roy Cooper made her chief justice in 2019, and she became the first Black woman to serve in that position in North Carolina and the fourth nationwide.
More than 1,000 people attended her swearing in ceremony.
“The magnitude of this opportunity to serve all North Carolinians is certainly not lost on me,” Beasley said in a news release then. “I look forward to continuing to work to improve access to the courts and to ensure that our citizens have a judiciary that they trust to administer justice fairly, equally, and swiftly.”
She also has had the support of voters.
In 2008, she became the first Black woman to be elected to a statewide office in North Carolina without first being appointed to the position by a governor when she was elected to the state Court of Appeals.
Beasley is an alumni of Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the University of Tennessee College of Law and Duke University School of Law, where she received her masters degree in 2018.
She has also served as a public defender.
As Jackson stepped away from his Senate run Thursday, he thanked Beasley in a video message posted to social media for her kindness and public service, and acknowledged that she consistently leads in polling. He then gave her his endorsement.
“She has served this state honorably for two decades and has always fought for justice,” Jackson said. “And I can tell you, I’ve gotten to know her personally and she’s a wonderful person.”
Chief Justice
Beasley served as the state’s top jurist during a tumultuous time for North Carolina’s court system. She battled both the COVID-19 pandemic and a national uprising calling for racial equity in criminal justice.
The latter began in May 2020, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
When riots broke out that included vandalism, violence and theft, Beasley held a new conference condemning the violence, but also criticizing those telling the protesters to go home. She urged people to listen to their message.
“In our courts, African-Americans are more harshly treated, more severely punished and more likely to be presumed guilty,” Beasley said at the time. “There are many ways to create change in the world, but one thing is apparent: the young people who are protesting everyday have made clear that they do not intend to live in a world in which they are denied justice and equality like the generations before them.”
Beasley referenced a study conducted by her predecessor that showed racial injustice in the state’s judicial system.
“We must come together to firmly and loudly commit to the declaration that all people are created equal, and we must do more than just speak that truth,” Beasley said. “We must live it every day in our courtrooms. My pledge to you today is that we will.”
Simultaneously, Beasley was leading the courts through the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 15, 2020, Beasley asked all judicial districts to drastically reduce their court schedules as COVID-19 began to make its way through the court system. Superior Court judges who typically serve around the state suddenly had travel restrictions and court cases moved online. At times, Beasley decided to postpone some court hearings altogether.
She launched a commission to study fairness and equality, launched an e-filing system for domestic violence victims and helped begin moving North Carolina’s court filings to an online system.
Beasley’s reelection campaign
Beasley had a hard-fought reelection battle in 2020 against her colleague on the bench, Justice Paul Newby.
In the end Newby edged out Beasley by 401 votes. She conceded the election and passed off the gavel in January.
Two months later, Beasley announced she planned to run for U.S. Senate after Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr announced his retirement.
General election
Filing for the 2022 primary began on Dec. 6 but abruptly ended two days later when the state Supreme Court pushed back until May North Carolina’s primary because of lawsuits alleging that some of North Carolina’s districts had been gerrymandered.
The justices wanted more time to consider the lawsuits and made the last-minute decision to delay filing in case the districts needed to be redrawn.
The state’s Democratic Party Chairwoman Bobbie Richardson thanked Jackson Thursday.
“I commend Senator Jackson and his team on an admirable and hard-fought campaign and am grateful for his voice in the primary,” Richardson said. “As we look forward to 2022, North Carolina Democrats stand strong, unified, and ready to take on whichever Republican emerges from the battle on the other side.”
Beasley still has at least two opponents for the Democratic nomination, though neither has the name recognition that Beasley, Jackson and Smith did.
Beaufort Mayor and Army veteran Rett Newton and perennial candidate Constance Lov Johnson of Charlotte did place their names on the ballot and will be considered as filed when the courts allow the state Board of Elections to proceed.
Beasley has obtained more than 200 endorsements across the state including U.S. Reps. Alma Adams, G.K. Butterfield, David Price and Deborah Ross.
The primary winner will face off against the Republican nominee. Former Gov. Pat McCrory, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker are among those seeking the nomination, though Walker is teasing a possible exit, to run for the 7th Congressional District.
The primary will be held on May 17.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 2:45 PM.
CORRECTION: Cheri Beasley is the first Black woman in North Carolina to be elected to a statewide office without previously having been appointed to the position by a governor. An earlier version of this article misstated the milestone.
