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The improbable rise of the 'Elevator Queen'
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A Lee Enterprises, Incorporated newspaper. Majority shareholder: David Hoffmann, Hoffmann Media Group.
The improbable rise of the 'Elevator Queen'
- By Kate Elizabeth Queram
- Sep 10, 2017
- Sep 10, 2017
- 0
- 7 min to read
1 of 2
Cherie Berry, the N.C. labor commissioner, poses for a picture inside the News & Record elevator. She hopes elevators are her lasting legacy. “If that’s what people remember about me, that’s just perfect,” she says.
- Andrew Krech/News & Record
- Tim Rickard
Prefer us on Google Learn More
By Kate Elizabeth Queram
GREENSBORO — North Carolina Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry isn't sure if she will pen a memoir about her 25 years in state politics, but she already has settled on an epitaph.
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Cult of personality: Years ago, when Berry decided to put her photo on inspection certificates, it inspired songs and shirts.
Photo courtesy of We Be Raleigh
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After being re-elected, Berry’s portrait debuted in elevator cars in 2005. Democrats characterized it as a political move, an accusation she dismissed.
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After Berry’s fourth re-election last November, the newest elevator photo (its third iteration) is in living color.
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N.C. Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry poses for a picture inside the News & Record elevator. She hopes elevators are her lasting legacy. “If that’s what people remember about me, that’s just perfect,” she says.
Andrew Krech, News & Record
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Cherie Berry Q&A
Contact Kate Elizabeth Queram at 336-373-7003 and follow @KateElizabethNR on Twitter.
LOVE IN AN ELEVATOR
Name: Cherie Killian Berry (pronounced Cher-EE)
Age: 70
Hometown: Newton, N.C.
Marital status: Single
Favorite color: Green
Favorite movie: "Midnight Cowboy." "It touched me emotionally more than any other movie I have ever seen."
Favorite book: "Atlas Shrugged," by Ayn Rand
All-time favorite Republican: "My grandmother Mollie Carrigan, because she raised seven children all by herself without asking for any help."
Pet peeve: "When people do not respond when I say 'hey' to them or when they do not acknowledge you when you speak to them."
Red wine or white? "No preference, as long as it is in a box."
Fun fact: In 1979, Berry (then Cherie Perlmutter) competed in the Mrs. America pageant as Mrs. Michigan. Berry didn't win the crown but "had a ball" with the other contestants, and while competing, helped lead a protest against the pageant's requirement that contestants wear a bikini for the swimsuit portion. "We'd all had kids. We had stretch marks. We didn't want to be on TV wearing this two-piece," Berry says. "So we refused, and they got us one-piece bathing suits, which was fine."
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Cherie Berry, the N.C. labor commissioner, poses for a picture inside the News & Record elevator. She hopes elevators are her lasting legacy. “If that’s what people remember about me, that’s just perfect,” she says.
- Andrew Krech/News & Record
N.C. Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry poses for a picture inside the News & Record elevator. She hopes elevators are her lasting legacy. “If that’s what people remember about me, that’s just perfect,” she says.
- Andrew Krech, News & Record
Cult of personality: Years ago, when Berry decided to put her photo on inspection certificates, it inspired songs and shirts.
- Photo courtesy of We Be Raleigh
After being re-elected, Berry’s portrait debuted in elevator cars in 2005. Democrats characterized it as a political move, an accusation she dismissed.
- Tim Rickard
- Tim Rickard
After Berry’s fourth re-election last November, the newest elevator photo (its third iteration) is in living color.
- Mike Kernels
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