Bev Perdue

Bev Perdue
73rd Governor of North Carolina
In office January 10, 2009 – January 5, 2013[1]
Lieutenant	Walter Dalton
Preceded by	Mike Easley
Succeeded by	Pat McCrory
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 January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2001[2]
Preceded by	Bill Barker[3]
Succeeded by	Scott Thomas
Personal details
Born	(1947-01-14) January 14, 1947 Grundy, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Gary Perdue (1970–1994) Bob Eaves (1997–present)
Alma mater	University of Kentucky University of Florida

Beverly Eaves "Bev" Perdue^[4] (born Beverly Marlene Moore; January 14, 1947)^[5] is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 73rd Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina. She was 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 five 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 fined $30,000 in 2010.^[6] When Hillary Clinton dropped out of the 2008 presidential race, The New York Times mentioned Perdue as a potential future presidential candidate.^[7]

On January 26, 2012, facing sinking approval ratings, Perdue announced that she would not seek reelection in the 2012 gubernatorial election.^[8] She was then succeeded by current governor Pat McCrory.

Early life and education

Beverly Marlene Moore^[9] was born in Grundy, Virginia to Alfred P. and Irene Morefield Moore in 1947.^[9] Her father was a coal miner who became a utility CEO.^[10] 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.^[11]

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).^[12] In 1996, she won re-election against Republican Holt Faircloth, Carteret County Commissioner, 60%-40%.^[13][14][15] In 1998, she won re-election against Republican George Hipps 60%-40%.^[16]

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.^[10] She fought for more benefits for senior citizens.^[17]

Committee assignments

She served in the House Judiciary Committee.^[18] She was Chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.^[19]

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.^[10] As lieutenant governor, Perdue's most significant act was casting the tie-breaking vote that established the North Carolina Education Lottery.^[10]

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.^[20][21] On May 6, 2008, Perdue won the Democratic nomination for Governor, defeating State Treasurer Richard H. Moore and Dennis Nielsen.^[22]

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.^[23] Despite a national Democratic tide and Perdue's fundraising edge,^[24] in the general election campaign McCrory led Perdue at first; Perdue slowly gained as the Democratic candidate.^[25] Perdue and McCrory remained close, with the two often polling in a statistical tie^[24] in what was the closest race for governor in the nation.^[23] Perdue ran slightly behind her opponent in polls released the week before the election.^[24] 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."^[25]

While McCrory received the endorsement of most major newspapers in the state (which typically endorse Democrats),^{[26][27][28][29][30][31]} Perdue received the endorsement of actor and director Andy Griffith, who filmed a campaign ad on her behalf.^[32]

Perdue defeated McCrory on November 4, 2008, 50.3% to 46.9%.^[33]

North Carolina Governor

Perdue was sworn in as the 73rd Governor of North Carolina on January 10, 2009, succeeding Governor Mike Easley.

Political positions

Perdue's Senate record followed the lines of the Democratic caucus.^[10] 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.^[10] She had previously said she would admit every high school graduate to community college tuition-free.^[10] 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.^[34]

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.^[35]

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

She vetoed a bill that would have allowed fracking in North Carolina. The veto was overridden in July 2012.^[36]

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.^[37] Audio of the speech was subsequently released.^[38]

Hurricane Irene

Governor Perdue oversaw the state's preparation and response to Hurricane Irene in 2011^[39] It was seen by some political observers as a defining moment of her tenure.^[40]

Eugenics compensation

Gov. Perdue issued the following statement regarding the final recommendations approved by the Governor’s Task Force on Eugenics Compensation:

"Thank you to the devoted members of this task force for months of diligent, careful and thoughtful work to address one of the most difficult and emotionally wrenching issues in our state’s history.

While no amount of money will ever make up for the fact that government officials deprived North Carolinians, mostly women, of the possibility of having children—and officials did so, in most cases, without the victims’ consent or against their will—we must do something. I support the task force’s compensation proposal. I also agree that we should establish a permanent exhibit so that this shameful period is never forgotten. I look forward to reviewing the details of the task force’s recommendations." ^[41]

North Carolina's Republican controlled Senate removed such compensation for sterilization victims from the state's budget that the General Assembly passed after overriding the Governor's veto.^[42]

Funding education

Gov. Bev Perdue called on the General Assembly to temporarily restore a fraction of a penny to the state sales tax to reverse deep and unnecessary cuts to education.^[43]

Pre-K expansion

North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue issued Executive Order No. 128 authorizing the expansion of the NC Pre-K program to serve up to 6,300 additional children by Jan. 1, 2013. An estimated 1,000 of those children can begin to be served immediately in Pre-K classrooms across the state.

“Through good economic times and bad, North Carolina’s enduring commitment has been to educate our children. Now more than ever, as we sit poised for an economic recovery, any delay in preparing our kids to be tomorrow’s workforce is simply unacceptable,” Gov. Perdue said. “After the General Assembly cut early education programs by 20 percent, thousands of our youngest students were cut out of the Pre-K classroom. Today we can welcome many of them in.” ^[44]

Wilmington 10

Governor Perdue granted full pardons of innocence to the Wilmington 10 on December 31, 2012. "These convictions were tainted by naked racism and represent an ugly stain on North Carolina's criminal justice system that cannot be allowed to stand any longer," said Gov. Beverly Purdue. "Justice demands that this stain finally be removed." Perdue said that among the key evidence that led her to grant pardons of innocence were recently discovered notes from the prosecutor who picked the jury. The notes showed the prosecutor preferred white jurors who might be members of the Ku Klux Klan and one black juror was described as an "Uncle Tom type." Perdue also pointed to the federal court's ruling that the prosecutor knew his star witness lied on the witness stand. That witness and other witnesses recanted a few years after the trial. ^[45]

Federal criminal investigation

On late 2010, Perdue's 2008 campaign came under State and Federal investigation for 41 unreported private flights.^[46] She had been fined $30,000 in August 2010 by the State Board of Elections for the unreported flights, but that body declined to investigate due the majority decision that the Perdue Committee did not intentionally violate the law.^[6]

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.^[47]

Personal life

She is an Episcopalian.^[9][11] Before entering public service, Perdue worked as a public school teacher, as director of geriatric services at a community hospital in her hometown of New Bern, and earned a Ph.D. in Education Administration.^[48]

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.^[9] She continues to use "Perdue" as her last name, using her current married name as her middle name.

Post-governorship

In Spring 2013, she served as a Resident Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.^[49] Following her Harvard fellowship, she started an education consulting business.^[50]

In August 2013, Perdue became a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, where she will work with faculty and students and also serve as an adviser for Duke's Center for Child and Family Policy.^[51]

Electoral history

North Carolina gubernatorial election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Beverly Perdue	2,146,083	50.27%
	Republican	Pat McCrory	2,001,114	46.88%
	Libertarian	Michael Munger	121,585	2.85%

North Carolina gubernatorial Democratic primary, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Beverly Perdue	840,342	56.21%
	Democratic	Richard H. Moore	594.028	39.23%
	Democratic	Dennis Nielsen	60.628	4.06%

North Carolina Lieutenant governor election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Beverly Perdue	1,888,397	56.6%
	Republican	Jim Snyder	1,453,705	42.8%
	Libertarian	Christopher Cole	56,368	1.7%

North Carolina Lieutenant governor election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Beverly Perdue	1,500,206	52%
	Republican	Betsy Cochrane	1,315,825	46%
	Reform	Catherine Carter	50,352	2%

North Carolina Lieutenant governor Democratic primary election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Beverly Perdue	329,183	64.1%
	Democratic	Ed Wilson	103,847	20.2%
	Democratic	Ronnie Ansley	55,622	10.8%
	Democratic	Joel Harbinson	25,179	4.9%

North Carolina state Senate district 3 election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Beverly Perdue	24,767	60.1%
	Republican	David G. Hipps	16,414	39.9%

All data is from the State Board of Elections.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beverly Perdue.

• Campaign website
• 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

Political offices
Preceded by Dennis Wicker	Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina 2001–2009	Succeeded by Walter Dalton
Preceded by Mike Easley	Governor of North Carolina 2009–2013	Succeeded by Pat McCrory

v t e Governors and Lieutenant Governors of North Carolina Governors Caswell Nash Burke A. Martin Caswell Johnston A. Martin Spaight 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 Gardner Ehringhaus Hoey Broughton Cherry W. K. Scott Umstead Hodges Sanford Moore R. W. Scott Holshouser Hunt J. Martin Hunt Easley Perdue McCrory Lieutenant Governors Caldwell Brogden Jarvis Robinson Stedman Holt Doughton Reynolds Turner Winston Newland Daughtridge O. Gardner Cooper Long Fountain Graham Horton Harris Ballentine Taylor, Sr. Hodges Barnhardt Philpott Scott Taylor, Jr. Hunt Green Jordan J. Gardner Wicker Perdue Dalton Forest

Authority control WorldCat VIAF: 83628699 LCCN: no2009044732

Persondata
Name	Perdue, Bev
Alternative names	Perdue, Beverly Eaves (Full name); Moore, Beverly Marlene (Birth name)
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	January 14, 1947
Place of birth	Grundy, Virginia
Date of death
Place of death