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Former NC Chief Justice Cheri Beasley announces run for U.S. Senate

Beasley joins four other Democrats vying for the party nomination for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

Credit: AP

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2019, file photo, Judge Cheri Beasley poses for a picture from the Chief Justice's seat in a courtroom in Fayetteville, N.C. The North Carolina Supreme Court says it will remove the portrait of former Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin, background, from its courtroom. Ruffin owned slaves during the 1800s and defended slavery through his court rulings. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/The Fayetteville Observer via AP, File)

RALEIGH, N.C. — The first Black woman to serve as chief justice on North Carolina's highest court has announced her entry into the state's U.S. Senate race.

Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley announced her campaign on Tuesday. She lost her re-election for Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2020.

Beasley joins four other Democrats vying for the party nomination for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Richard Burr. She is the only Democrat in the race who has won a statewide contest. Whoever wins the primary will advance to a costly general election fight that could determine whether Democrats maintain their power in the chamber.

Republicans, former U.S. Congressman Mark Walker and former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, are also vying for the open seat.