RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Latest on North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper naming the next chief justice of the state Supreme Court (all times local):
4 p.m.
North Carolina Republicans are unhappy with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s decision to elevate a sitting state Supreme Court justice to become chief justice over two other justices with more experience on the court.
The criticism of Cooper after Tuesday’s pick of Associate Justice Cheri Beasley also came from one of the justices he didn’t choose.
Associate Justice Paul Newby said Cooper refused to honor what he says is the tradition of naming the senior associate justice as chief justice. That would have been Newby, who accused Cooper of deciding to place “raw partisan politics over a nonpartisan judiciary.”
Newby confirmed that he’ll be running for that chief justice’s position in the 2020 elections as a Republican.
Cooper said earlier Tuesday that he picked Beasley simply because she is “the right person at the right time.”
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2:10 p.m.
Gov. Roy Cooper is elevating current North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley to become the next chief justice.
The Democratic governor announced Tuesday that Beasley is his choice to succeed current Chief Justice Mark Martin, who is resigning at the end of the month to lead a Virginia law school.
Beasley will be the state’s first female African-American chief justice. She’s been an associate justice since late 2012.
The 52-year-old Beasley is one of the five registered Democrats on the seven-member court. She previously served as a trial judge and Court of Appeals judge before then-Gov. Beverly Perdue appointed her to the Supreme Court.
Beasley’s appointment goes through the end of 2020. The chief justice’s seat will be on next year’s ballot for a full eight-year term.
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