She received her Bachelor of Science degree with highest honors from
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the
City University of New York. She also has a master's degree in public administration from John Jay. She received her
Juris Doctor degree from
Fordham University in 1979. Cole, a native New Yorker, is a former New York City police officer, and was in one of the first groups of female police officers assigned to patrol the streets in high crime areas. Upon her completion of law school, Cole served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. In 1983 she moved to
Hertford, North Carolina, a rural community in
North Carolina and started a private practice. Seven years later she was elected to serve as a state District Court Judge. She was the first black and first woman to serve as a judge in that district. She held that position until she was sworn in as the United States Attorney in February, 1994. Cole unsuccessfully ran for the
United States House of Representatives in 2002. In 2008, she was selected by the
North Carolina Democratic Party to be a member of the
United States Electoral College, voting for
Barack Obama and
Joe Biden on behalf of the state's voters. When the state's electoral college met, Cole and elector Kara Hollingsworth, both African-Americans, formally nominated Obama. Cole was one of the initial members of an advisory committee appointed by U.S. Sen.
Kay Hagan to help her recommend nominees for U.S. attorneys and federal judgeships in North Carolina. In January 2023, Cole was appointed as the town manager of
Hertford, North Carolina, where she resides with her husband. Prior to her appointment, she was the interim manager of the town. == Personal life ==