Beverly Eaves Perdue[1] (born Beverly Marlene Moore; January 14, 1947)[2] is an American businesswoman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 73rd governor of North Carolina from 2009 to 2013. She was the first and currently to date the only female governor of North Carolina.
On January 26, 2012, facing sinking approval ratings, Perdue announced that she would not seek reelection in the 2012 gubernatorial election.[3] She left office in January 2013. She became the first Democratic Governor since Robert W. Scott to have served a single term, and is currently the only Democratic Governor in the state's history to not seek re-election.
Early life and education
Beverly Marlene Moore[4] was born in 1947 in Grundy, Virginia, the daughter of Alfred P. and Irene Morefield Moore.[4] Her father was a coal miner and co-founder of a coal mining company, who went on to become CEO of a large utility company.[5] She earned a B.A. degree in history in 1969 from the University of Kentucky, where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, 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.[6]
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).[8] In 1996, she won re-election against Republican Holt Faircloth, Carteret County Commissioner, 60%-40%.[9][10][11] In 1998, she won re-election against Republican George Hipps 60%-40%.[12]
Tenure
During her last three terms in the Senate, she served as co-chair of the Appropriations Committee[13][14] 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.[5] She fought for more benefits for senior citizens.[15]
Committee assignments
She served in the House Judiciary Committee.[16] She was Chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.[17]
Lieutenant governor
Perdue being sworn in during 2005
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.[5] As lieutenant governor, Perdue's most significant act was casting the tie-breaking vote that established the North Carolina Education Lottery.[5]
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.[21] Her 2008 gubernatorial campaign was under both state and federal investigation for donation irregularities and was fined $30,000 in 2010.[22] Despite a national Democratic tide and Perdue's fundraising edge,[23] in the general election campaign McCrory led Perdue at first; Perdue slowly gained as the Democratic candidate.[24] Perdue and McCrory remained close, with the two often polling in a statistical tie[23] in what was the closest race for governor in the nation.[21] Perdue ran slightly behind her opponent in polls released the week before the election.[23] 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."[24]
While McCrory received the endorsement of most major newspapers in the state (which typically endorse Democrats),[25][26][27][28][29][30] Perdue received the endorsement of actor and director Andy Griffith, who filmed a campaign ad on her behalf.[31]
Perdue defeated McCrory on November 4, 2008, 50.3% to 46.9%.[32]
Late reporting fine
In late 2010, Perdue's 2008 campaign came under State and Federal investigation for the late reporting of 41 private flights.[33] The campaign was fined $30,000 in August 2010 by the State Board of Elections for the late reporting of flights which were discovered after a 2009 self-audit, but that body declined to investigate further after deciding that the Perdue Campaign did not intentionally violate the law.[22]
Perdue's Senate record followed the lines of the Democratic caucus.[5] 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.[5] She had previously said she would admit every high school graduate to community college tuition-free.[5] In late February and early March 2009, she announced that $93 million from the educational lottery would be used to ensure there is money available for the state's day-to-day operations.[35]
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.[36]
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.[37]
On September 27, 2011, Perdue introduced the idea of suspending the Congressional elections. She told the CaryRotary 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.[39] Audio of the speech was subsequently released.[40]
Hurricane Irene
Governor Perdue oversaw the state's preparation and response to Hurricane Irene in 2011[41] It was seen by some political observers as a defining moment of her tenure.[42]
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."[43]
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.[44]
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.[45]
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 January 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."[46]
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 Perdue. "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.[47]
Personal life
She is an Episcopalian.[4][6] 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 New Bern. She has been married to Robert Wendell Eaves, Jr. 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.[4] 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 worked with faculty and students and also served as an adviser for Duke's Center for Child and Family Policy.[51]
Perdue was named to the Governing Board of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2017 and re-appointed in 2021. She became the board's first female chair in 2018 and was re-elected to the chair for a second time in 2021.[52]
Michael Francis Easley is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been convicted of a felony. The conviction was later expunged by the Chief Judge of the Superior Court of Wake County. A member of the Democratic Party, Easley was North Carolina's second Catholic governor.
Rebecca Ann "Becky" Carney is a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives representing the 102nd district since 2003. Her district includes constituents in Mecklenburg county. Carney is a homemaker from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Fred Smith is a North Carolina politician who served in the North Carolina Senate and ran for Governor of North Carolina in 2008.
Walter H. Dalton is an American attorney and politician who served as the 33rd Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served six terms in the state senate before his election to the office of lieutenant governor in 2008.
Roy Asberry Cooper III is an American attorney and politician serving since 2017 as the 75th governor of North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of North Carolina from 2001 to 2017, and in the North Carolina General Assembly, in both the House, from 1987 to 1991, and the Senate, from 1991 to 2001.
Patrick Lloyd McCrory is an American politician, businessman, and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. McCrory is the only Republican elected as governor of North Carolina in the 21st century. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd mayor of Charlotte from 1995 to 2009.
The 2008 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2008, coinciding with the presidential, U.S. Senate, U.S. House elections, Council of State and statewide judicial elections. Democrat Bev Perdue won the election. With a margin of 3.39%, this election was the closest race of the 2008 gubernatorial election cycle. This was the first time that the same party that was elected governor, won the concurrent presidential race since 1988. This was the first time Democrats did so since 1976.
North Carolina elections to choose members of the Council of State were held November 4, 2008. This coincided with the presidential, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, gubernatorial, and statewide judicial elections.
James Carson "Jim" Gardner is an American businessman and politician from North Carolina who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for just one term from 1967 to 1969 and served as the 30th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina 1989 to 1993.
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Michael Curtis Munger is an American economist and a former chair of the political science department at Duke University, where he continues to teach political science, public policy, and economics. He is a prolific writer, and his book Analyzing Policy: Choices, Conflicts, and Practices is now a standard work in the field of policy analysis. In 2008 he was the Libertarian candidate for Governor of North Carolina.
The 2012 North Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 United States presidential election, U.S. House election, statewide judicial election, Council of State election and various local elections.
The 2008 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2008, as part of the elections to the Council of State. North Carolina also held a gubernatorial election on the same day, but the offices of governor and lieutenant governor are elected independently.
James Arthur Pope is an American businessman, attorney and former government official. Pope is the owner, chairman and CEO of Variety Wholesalers, a group of 370 retail stores in 16 states. He is also the president and chairman of the John William Pope Foundation. He previously served in the North Carolina House of Representatives and recently served as the Budget Director for North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory.
The North Carolina Council of State elections of 2012 were held November 6, 2012 to select the nine officers of the North Carolina Council of State. This election coincided with the U.S. presidential election, U.S. House elections, the gubernatorial election and the statewide judicial elections. Primary elections were held on May 8, 2012; for races in which no candidate received 40 percent of the vote in the primary, runoff elections were held on July 17.
The North Carolina Racial Justice Act of 2009 prohibited seeking or imposing the death penalty on the basis of race. It passed both the North Carolina State Senate and North Carolina House of Representatives and was signed into law by Governor Bev Perdue. The law was repealed in 2013.
The North Carolina Poet Laureate is the poet laureate for the US state of North Carolina. At first a life appointment, the term of office is now two years. The program is run by the North Carolina Arts Council. Laureates are appointed by the Governor of North Carolina.
Four justices of the seven-member North Carolina Supreme Court and four judges of the 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals were elected by North Carolina voters on November 4, 2014, concurrently with other state elections. Terms for seats on each court are eight years.
The 2016 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2016, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Democratic state attorney general Roy Cooper won his first term in office, defeating Republican incumbent Pat McCrory.
The 2022 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of North Carolina. Primary elections were scheduled for March 8, 2022, but were delayed by the North Carolina Supreme Court and rescheduled for May 17.
↑ Lori Ann Harris and Marianne M. Kersey, Article II: A Guide to the 1987-1988 N. C. Legislature, N. C. Center for Public Policy Research, Theo Davis & Sons, Zebulon, NC, 1988, p. 168; Kim Kebshull, Article II: A Guide to the 1991-1992 N. C. Legislature, N. C. Center for Public Policy Research, Theo Davis & Sons, Zebulon, NC, 1991, p. 47.
↑ "McCrory's time". The News & Observer (Editorial). Raleigh, N.C. October 26, 2008. Archived from the original on October 29, 2008. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
↑ Bonner, Lynn; Niolet, Benjamin (January 10, 2009). "Council of State also sworn in today: These four among those who will help the new governor steer the ship of state". The News & Observer.
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