American judge (born 1966)

Cheri Lynn Beasley (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; she was appointed an *ociate justice in 2012. Beasley had previously served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and as a district court judge in *berland County, North Carolina.

Beasley is the Democratic nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina.

Contents

• 1 Education
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Appellate judicial service
  • 2.2 2022 U.S. Senate campaign
• 3 Personal life
• 4 Electoral history
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Education

Beasley earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Dougl* 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.

Career

Beasley spent her first years following law school as an *istant public defender in *berland County, North Carolina. 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. She served as a Judge in District 12 (*berland County) until her election to the Court of Appeals.

Beasley in 2017

Appellate judicial service

In 2008, Beasley was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, defeating in*bent Douglas McCullough by a 15 point margin. 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. 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. She was elected to a full eight-year term in 2014.

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 to serve as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Beasley ran for a full term as chief justice in the 2020 election, losing by 401 votes to *ociate Justice Paul Martin Newby. After leaving office, Beasley joined McGuireWoods as a partner in the law firm's Raleigh office.

2022 U.S. Senate campaign

Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina

In February 2021, various media outlets reported that Beasley was considering running in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in North Carolina. The News & Observer reported in March 2021 that Beasley had decided to enter the race for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Richard Burr. She launched her campaign on April 27, 2021. On May 17, she won the Democratic primary election. She will face Congressman Ted Budd in the November general election.

Personal life

Beasley is married to Curtis Owens, a scientist. They have twin sons.

Electoral history

See also

• Biography portal
• Law portal
• North Carolina portal
• Politics portal

• Joe Biden Supreme Court candidates
• List of African-American jurists
• List of female state supreme court justices
• List of justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court

References

External links

• Cheri Beasley for North Carolina campaign website

• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission