RALEIGH – Former Democratic N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is planning to announce a campaign for U.S. Senate in 2022.
First reported by McClatchy, a source said she was expected to announce her candidacy in early April.
“She’s putting a team together, is planning to announce and I think we’ll see that in early April,” said Kara Hollingsworth, a Cary-based political consultant who has worked on previous Beasley campaigns, on Thursday, according to the report.
Beasley lost one of the closest statewide elections in history in 2020 to Republican Chief Justice Paul Newby. Despite heavily outspending Newby, Beasley lost the seat by 401 votes.
Beasley conceded the race over a month after the Nov. 2020 election following two recounts in the race.
Following her departure from the court, she became a partner in the Raleigh office of McGuireWoods.
She now appears all but certain to join the Democratic primary along with announced candidates Erica Smith and Jeff Jackson. Joan Higginbotham, a former NASA astronaut, is also likely to run for the seat.
