Loading AI tools
American judge (born 1966) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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; she was appointed an associate justice in 2012. Beasley previously served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and as a district court judge in Cumberland County, North Carolina.[2]
Cheri Beasley | |
---|---|
![]() Beasley in 2023 | |
29th Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court | |
In office March 1, 2019 – December 31, 2020 | |
Appointed by | Roy Cooper |
Preceded by | Mark Martin |
Succeeded by | Paul Martin Newby |
Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court | |
In office December 12, 2012 – March 1, 2019 | |
Appointed by | Bev Perdue |
Preceded by | Patricia Timmons-Goodson |
Succeeded by | Mark A. Davis |
Personal details | |
Born | Cheri Lynn Beasley February 14, 1966 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Curtis Owens |
Children | 2 |
Education | Rutgers University–New Brunswick (BA) University of Tennessee (JD) Duke University (LLM) |
Occupation |
|
Website | Official website |
Beasley was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina. She lost to Republican nominee Ted Budd.[3][4]
Beasley earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and economics 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 a Master of Laws from Duke University School of Law in 2018.[5][6]
Beasley spent her first years after 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 reelected without opposition in 2006.[7] She served as a Judge in District 12 (Cumberland County) until her election to the Court of Appeals.
In 2008, Beasley was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals, defeating incumbent Douglas McCullough by a 15-point margin.[8] In that election, she became the first Black woman to win election to statewide office in North Carolina without first being appointed by a governor.[9] In December 2012, after four years on the Court of Appeals, Beasley was appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court by Governor Beverly Perdue, filling the vacancy created by Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson's retirement.[10] She was elected to a full eight-year term in 2014.[11]
On February 12, 2019, Governor Roy Cooper appointed Beasley to the position of chief justice after Mark Martin retired, making her the first African-American woman to serve as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.[12]
Beasley ran for a full term as chief justice in the 2020 election, losing by 401 votes[13] to Associate Justice Paul Martin Newby.[14] After leaving office, she joined McGuireWoods as a partner in the law firm's Raleigh office.[15]
In February 2021, various media outlets reported that Beasley was considering running in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in North Carolina.[16][17] The News & Observer reported in March 2021 that Beasley had decided to enter the race for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Richard Burr.[15] She launched her campaign on April 27, 2021,[18] and on May 17, she won the Democratic primary election. She lost the general election on November 8 to Republican nominee Ted Budd.
Beasley is married to Curtis Owens, a scientist.[19] They have twin sons.[20] In 2014, Beasley was the featured speaker at Saint Augustine's University's Lyceum Leadership Speaker Series.[21] She was the commencement speaker to the 2018 class of University of Tennessee College of Law.[22] Beasley was also the keynote speaker at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law Black Law Students Association's 24th Annual Thurgood Marshall Symposium.[23] In 2019, she was the undergraduate commencement speaker for nearly 900 graduates at Fayettesville State University, for the 133rd graduate commencement of North Carolina Central University, and the commencement speaker for Elon University's School of Law.
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 |
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 |
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 |
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.