HAMLET — A Richmond County native has thrown her proverbial hat in the ring to be the state’s top law enforcement official and lawyer.
Durham District Attorney Satana Deberry, originally from Hamlet, announced Nov. 10 that she would be running in the Democratic primary for North Carolina Attorney General.
“The people of North Carolina deserve an Attorney General who is fair, firm, and consistent,” Deberry said in a statement. “An Attorney General who will go to work for them every day no matter where they come from or who they are. My life’s work has been dedicated to putting the people above politics and the people’s business first, as Attorney General of this state, that’s exactly what I will do.”
According to the press release Deberry has “prioritized the prosecution of serious offenses, implemented policies to reduce unnecessary pretrial incarceration and court involvement, and worked to improve trust and equity in the courts” in her role as district attorney.
“Throughout her career, Deberry has worked to dismantle systems that restrict the lives of poor people, families, communities of color, and other marginalized and underrepresented groups,” the release reads.
Deberry graduated from Princeton University in 1991 with a degree in sociology and earned her juris doctorate from Duke University in 1994. She also received a Masters in Business Administration from Duke in 2006.
Click here to read a Women’s History Month post about Deberry.
She worked for a while as a defense attorney in Richmond County and has also served as general counsel for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, and executive director of the nonprofit North Carolina Housing Coalition.
If elected, Deberry would be the first female and first African American to hold the post.
Deberry will face three other candidates in the Democratic primary: Marine Corps veteran and Fayetteville attorney Tim Dunn; Duplin County lawyer and Navy Reserve veteran Charles Ingram; and U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson
Jackson — who previously served as a state senator and ran for U.S. Senate before dropping out and endorsing Cheri Beasley — announced last month he was running for attorney general after being “drawn out of my congressional district by a small group of politicians.”
“It’s blatant corruption, but I’ve got news for them,” Jackson said in a social media post featuring a video of him boxing. “I’m running for Attorney General, and I’m going to use that job to fight political corruption.”
On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop — who currently represents most of Richmond County in the U.S. House of Representatives — is the only declared candidate.
Click here to read more about Bishop.
There do not appear to be any third-party candidates who have yet declared their intent to run.
Current Attorney General Josh Stein was elected in 2017 and reelected in 2021. He is running for governor and he will face former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan in the Democratic primary.
Filing runs from Dec. 4-15.
UPDATED: 6:20 p.m.
