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Bev Perdue
73rd Governor of North Carolina
Incumbent
Assumed office January 10, 2009
Lieutenant	Walter Dalton
Preceded by	Mike Easley
32nd Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
In office January 6, 2001 – January 10, 2009
Governor	Mike Easley
Preceded by	Dennis Wicker
Succeeded by	Walter Dalton
Member of the North Carolina Senate from the 3rd district
In office 1991–2001
Preceded by	Bill Barker
Succeeded by	Scott Thomas
Personal details
Born	Beverly Marlene Moore (1947-01-14) January 14, 1947 (age 78) Grundy, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Gary Perdue (1970–1994) Bob Eaves (1997–present)
Residence	Executive Mansion
Alma mater	University of Kentucky University of Florida
Website	www.governor.state.nc.us

Beverly Eaves "Bev" Perdue (born January 14, 1947) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party currently serving as the 73rd Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina. She is the first female governor of North Carolina.

Perdue started her political career in the 1980s, serving in the North Carolina House of Representatives. She then served 5 terms in the North Carolina Senate before she was elected as the 32nd Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. Perdue was elected to the office of Governor of North Carolina in 2008 against then-Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory by a 50-46 margin. Her 2008 gubernatorial campaign is under both State and Federal investigation, and was recently fined $30,000 in 2010. When Hillary Clinton dropped out of the 2008 presidential race The New York Times mentioned Perdue as a potential future presidential candidate.

On January 26, 2012, Perdue announced that she would not seek reelection in the 2012 gubernatorial election.

Early life and education

Beverly Marlene Moore was born in Grundy, Virginia to Alfred P. and Irene Morefield Moore in 1947. Her father was a coal miner who became a utility CEO. She earned a B.A. degree in history in 1969 from the University of Kentucky, as well as a M.Ed. degree in community college administration in 1974 and a Ph.D., degree in Education Administration in 1976, both from the University of Florida.

North Carolina legislature

Perdue, a Democrat, served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1987 to 1991, and in the North Carolina Senate from 1991 to 2001. She represented Craven County.

Elections

In 1990, she ran for the State Senate in North Carolina's 3rd Senate District, vacated by retiring State Senator Bill Barker (D-Pamlico County). In 1996, she won re-election against Republican Holt Faircloth, Carteret County Commissioner, 60%-40%. In 1998, she won re-election against Republican George Hipps 60%-40%.

Tenure

During her last three terms in the Senate, she served as a senior budget writer and was the first woman to hold this position. While she was in office, the General Assembly increased teacher pay and passed Governor Hunt's Excellent Schools Act and Smart Start. Additionally, she led the debate that created North Carolina's Clean Water Management Trust Fund. She fought for more benefits for senior citizens.

Committee assignments

She served in the House Judiciary Committee. She was Chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.

Lieutenant Governor

In 2000, she defeated Republican Betsy Cochrane for the lieutenant governor's seat, becoming North Carolina's first female lieutenant governor; she was re-elected in 2004. As lieutenant governor, Perdue's most significant act was casting the tie-breaking vote that established the North Carolina Education Lottery.

2008 gubernatorial election

Perdue announced her 2008 candidacy for governor on October 1, 2007 at her hometown, New Bern, North Carolina. On October 22, 2007, pro-choice Emily's List endorsed her campaign. On May 6, 2008, Perdue won the Democratic nomination for Governor, defeating State Treasurer Richard H. Moore and Dennis Nielsen.

Perdue raised $15 million for the general election and ran ads against her Republican opponent, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, criticizing him for not being tough enough on illegal immigration. Despite a national Democratic tide and Perdue's fundraising edge, in the general election campaign McCrory led Perdue at first; Perdue slowly gained as the Democratic candidate. Perdue and McCrory remained close, with the two often polling in a statistical tie in what was the closest race for governor in the nation. Perdue ran slightly behind her opponent in polls released the week before the election. Pundits speculated that Perdue was hurt by current Democratic Governor Mike Easley's decreasing popularity and McCrory's efforts to tag her as part of the Political corruption in Raleigh: consultants mentioned Perdue's "difficulty of being the candidate of continuity in a change election."

While McCrory received the endorsement of most major newspapers in the state (which typically endorse Democrats), Perdue received the endorsement of actor and director Andy Griffith, who filmed a campaign ad on her behalf.

Perdue defeated McCrory on November 4, 2008, 50.3 % to 46.9 %.

North Carolina Governor

Perdue was sworn in as the 73rd Governor of North Carolina on January 10, 2009, succeeding Governor Mike Easley. She has announced that she will not seek reelection to a second term at the end of her current term in office.

Political positions

Perdue's Senate record followed the lines of the Democratic caucus. As a member of the Board of Community Colleges, she voted against allowing illegal immigrants to attend the schools even if they graduated from a North Carolina high school. She had previously said she would admit every high school graduate to community college tuition-free. In late February and early March 2009, she announced that $87 million from the educational lottery would be used to ensure there is money available for the state's day-to-day operations.

In her first use of the veto power, Gov. Perdue vetoed a bill that would have made various documents that lawmakers use in drafting legislation confidential.

She also vetoed a bill that would have required voters to show photo ID before casting their ballots.

Remarks about suspending Congressional elections

On September 27, 2011, Perdue introduced the idea of suspending the Congressional elections. She told the Cary Rotary Club, "You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that. The one good thing about Raleigh is that for so many years we worked across party lines. It's a little bit more contentious now but it's not impossible to try to do what's right in this state. You want people who don't worry about the next election." Her press secretary later claimed that the statement was intended as a joke. Audio of the speech was subsequently released.

Hurricane Irene

Governor Perdue oversaw the state's preparation and response to Hurricane Irene in 2011 It was seen by some political observers as a defining moment of her tenure.

Federal Criminal Investigation

On October 22, 2010, Perdue revealed that her 2008 campaign was under State and Federal investigation. Less than a month after Perdue revealed her own investigation, her predecessor, Mike Easley, became the first North Carolina governor to admit to a felony.

Federal authorities looked into 41 confirmed private flights Perdue took dating back to 2005, which her campaign did not report until 2009. The state Board of Elections in August fined Perdue's campaign $30,000 for the flights aboard campaign donors' planes but concluded that the Perdue Committee did not intentionally violate the law. Perdue and representatives of her campaign have maintained that there was never any intent to conceal the flights, some of which might have violated state limits on contributions to candidates. Rather, they have said, the campaign had "a flawed system for recording flights," and the trips were not discovered until an audit of campaign records was conducted in 2009.

After the election Peter Reichard, a Greensboro businessman who served as the Perdue campaign's finance director, was charged with obstruction of justice. Reichard has been a key player in the gubernatorial campaigns of Perdue and her predecessor, Mike Easley, both Democrats. Reichard served as Easley's finance director for his 2000 gubernatorial campaign.

Personal life

She is an Episcopalian. Before entering politics, she worked as a hospital administrator and consultant.

Perdue lives in Chapel Hill and formerly lived in New Bern. She has been married to Bob Eaves since 1997 and has two grown sons, Garrett (b. 1976) and Emmett (b. 1979), from her previous marriage to Gary Perdue, which lasted from 1970 to 1994. She continues to use "Perdue" as her last name, using her current married name as her middle name.

Electoral history

All data is from the State Board of Elections.

References

1. "Certification of the results of the General Election Held on November 3, 1998 By the State Board of Elections" (PDF). North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
2. "Surprises Are Few As Hundreds File For Legislative Seats". The Lexington Dispatch. Associated Press. 6 February 1990. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
3. Washington Post and State letterhead indicate that she places her second husband's surname, Eaves, before her first husband's surname, Perdue.
4. "Perdue's change of birthdate". News & Observer.
5. ^ N.C. Governor Perdue's campaign fined on flight reporting errors
6. Zernike, Kate (2008-05-18). "She Just Might Be President Someday". New York Times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
7. Catanese, David (01/26/2012)> : "Bev Perdue will not seek reelection" politico.com
8. ^ Teague Beckwith, Ryan and Jones, Denise (2007-03-26). Beverly Perdue. The News & Observer. Retrieved on 2008-11-05 from http://projects.newsobserver.com/dome/profiles/beverly_perdue.
9. ^ "Looking for real reform in the governor's race". Independent Weekly. 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2008-11-25. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
10. ^ Beverly Perdue.newsobserver.com March 3, 2007. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
11. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vuMbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T1IEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5439,2902634&dq=beverly+perdue&hl=en
12. ftp://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/data/ElectResults/1996_11_05/19961105_results_NC_Senate.pdf
13. http://www.newbernsj.com/news/seat-7577-senate-preston.html
14. http://www.carteretcountygov.org/Faircloth.aspx
15. ftp://www.app.sboe.state.nc.us/data/ElectResults/1998_11_03/19981103_results_NC_Senate_03.pdf
16. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MaNOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KBUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6222,3772052&dq=beverly+perdue&hl=en
17. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jDVVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5j0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6928,2210168&dq=beverly+perdue&hl=en
18. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=GB&p_theme=gb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF84C26BBC4465&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
19. Perdue campaign press release
20. Emily's List
21. State Board of Elections
22. ^ Romoser, James (2008-11-05). "Perdue, in a first, edges McCrory". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 2008-11-25. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
23. ^ Johnson, Mark (2008-11-02). "Race for Governor Remains Close". The News & Observer. Retrieved 2008-11-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
24. ^ "Is the Southern Strategy Dead?". American Prospect. 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2008-10-26. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
25. "McCrory visits Chapel Hill". Daily Tar Heel. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-11-25. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
30. "McCrory for governor: Charlotte mayor would bring fresh and innovative leadership to Raleigh". Daily Tar Heel. 2008-10-26. Retrieved 2008-10-28. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
31. News & Observer: Perdue's Mayberry Miracle
32. Gary Robertson (2008-11-04). "Democrat Perdue becomes NC's 1st female governor". Associated Press. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
33. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29494123/
34. Perdue veto kills confidentiality bill
35. News & Observer
37. http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8332779.
38. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/62155.html
39. Easley Convicted of Felony
40. Perdue Under Federal Investigation
41. "3 Perdue associates indicted". Raleigh News & Observer. 30 November 2011.

External links

• North Carolina Office of Governor website
• Campaign website
• Template:GovLinks
• North Carolina Democratic Party
• News & Observer: Perdue announces bid for governor Mark Johnson, The News & Observer, October 1, 2007
• News & Observer: Perdue's Resumes, The News & Observer, October 9, 2007
• News & Observer: Perdue's inaugural address, The News & Observer, January 10, 2009

v t e Governors and lieutenant governors of North Carolina
Governors	Caswell Nash Burke A. Martin Caswell Johnston A. Martin Spaight Sr. Ashe Davie Williams Turner Alexander Williams Stone Smith Hawkins Miller Branch Franklin Holmes Burton Iredell Owen Stokes Swain Spaight Jr. Dudley Morehead Graham Manly Reid Winslow Bragg Ellis Clark Vance Holden Worth Holden Caldwell Brogden Vance Jarvis Scales Fowle Holt Carr Russell Aycock Glenn Kitchin Craig Bickett Morrison McLean O. M. Gardner Ehringhaus Hoey Broughton Cherry W. K. Scott Umstead Hodges Sanford Moore R. W. Scott Holshouser Hunt J. G. Martin Hunt Easley Perdue McCrory Cooper Stein
Lieutenant governors	Caldwell Brogden Jarvis Robinson Stedman Holt Doughton Reynolds Turner Winston Newland Daughtridge O. M. Gardner Cooper Long Fountain Graham Horton Harris Ballentine Taylor Sr. Hodges Barnhardt Philpott R. W. Scott Taylor Jr. J. Hunt Green Jordan J. Gardner Wicker Perdue Dalton Forest Robinson R. Hunt

v t e Statewide political officials of North Carolina
U.S. senators	Thom Tillis Ted Budd
State government	Josh Stein, Governor Rachel Hunt, Lieutenant Governor Elaine Marshall, Secretary of State Jeff Jackson, Attorney General Brad Briner, Treasurer Dave Boliek, Auditor Steve Troxler, Agriculture Commissioner Mike Causey, Insurance Commissioner Luke Farley, Labor Commissioner Mo Green, Superintendent
Senate	Rachel Hunt, President Phil Berger, President pro tempore Paul Newton, Majority Leader Sydney Batch, Minority Leader
House	Destin Hall, Speaker Mitchell S. Setzer, Speaker pro tempore Brenden Jones, Majority Leader Robert T. Reives II, Minority Leader
Supreme Court (elected)	Paul Martin Newby, Chief Justice Anita Earls Tamara P. Barringer Phil Berger Jr. Trey Allen Richard Dietz Allison Riggs

Template:Persondata

• 1947 births
• Living people
• American schoolteachers
• American women state governors
• Democratic Party state governors of the United States
• Governors of North Carolina
• Lieutenant Governors of North Carolina
• Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives
• North Carolina Democrats
• North Carolina State Senators
• People from Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• People from Grundy, Virginia
• University of Florida alumni
• University of Kentucky alumni
• Women state legislators in North Carolina