All in for Cheri Beasley

Let's go!

A cool thing happened in North Carolina this week, with major national implications. A white man running for the United States Senate stepped aside, long before our May primary, so that a Black woman could gain momentum in her race to become the first Black woman senator from North Carolina. True, she was beating him in the polls and she’d raised more money—but still! It’s pretty unusual, right? And also, pretty great news for Democrats in North Carolina, who may decide whether we keep (or even strengthen) our crucial Democratic Senate majority. That white man is the principled, savvy Jeff Jackson, and that amazing Black woman is Cheri Beasley.

I am all in for her in 2022 and I hope you are too.

Here’s a little information about Cheri Beasley: She is a lawyer and judge who started her legal career as a public defender in Fayetteville—already a fairly unusual path for a politician or judge (more judges come from prosecutor backgrounds). She was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2008, becoming the first Black woman elected to statewide office in North Carolina. In 2014 she was elected to our state Supreme Court, her second successful statewide run (and in a year with a Republican wave of seat-flipping). She became chief justice in 2019 (appointed by Governor Cooper), but lost that seat in 2020—by only 401 votes. This was a heartbreaking outcome, but as she pointed out in a Zoom call I attended when her campaign got started, she won more votes overall than Cal Cunningham (a white man who should have stepped aside—for somebody).

Cheri Beasley is awesome and you can read more about her commitments to expanding access to quality affordable health care, improving our support for kids and educators, tackling the climate crisis, protecting the vote, protecting women’s rights (including the right to choose), reforming our criminal justice system, and improving our economy here.

And maybe, if you can, make a year-end contribution or sign up to volunteer for team Beasley?

The stakes could hardly be higher—she will likely face off against our execrable former governor, Pat McCrory, or Trump-endorsed Ted Budd (who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election). Neither Pat nor Ted will do a damn thing for health care, education, the environment, protecting the vote—or, for that matter, the economy. Ted Budd is a rich boy who owns a gun range (“Ted Budd is fascist crud” was a popular chant this year at protests I attended in Alamance, a county he represents). Pat McCrory worked for Duke Energy for nearly 30 years and as governor let them get away with polluting North Carolina’s drinking water (plus led the way in all sorts of financially damaging, globally embarrassing legislation).

I’m ready to be proud of our state’s politics again! In an interview with NC’s Cardinal & Pine, Beasley shared that her commitment to voting rights is personal.

“The Voting Rights Act allowed my now late mother, Lou Beasley, who earned a Ph.D., the right to vote. And here we are, 56 years later, still fighting to protect this fundamental, this basic, this all-American right.”

This is one reason I’m so excited and proud to support Cheri Beasley—her understanding of the issues, as a public defender, a state supreme court justice, and a woman of color goes deep. And if you’re reading from outside of NC, please know that she will support your communities too. We’ll follow her and tell you how you can lend a hand in the new year.

Stay tuned, as we mentioned, for a papercraft tutorial on Tuesday!