Click here to view Perdue's photo gallery.
Primary victory, general attacks. Weeks of mud-slinging couldn’t stop North Carolina Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue’s campaign for governor. Boosted by women voters, she handily defeated state Treasurer Richard Moore in the May 6 Democratic primary, and she stayed positive for the last four weeks of the campaign in the face of vicious attacks from Moore. Perdue’s decisive 56-to-39 victory confirms that North Carolinians are ready for the positive change she embodies. Now she must rebuild her war chest to defeat an anti-choice Republican who launched his first negative salvo three days after the primary -- a false attack the North Carolina press said wasn’t true.
Progressive, pro-choice leadership. Perdue is a leader on education and health care, an advocate for seniors, and a champion of progressive reform. Her Working Families Agenda helped increase North Carolina's minimum wage. She played a critical role in making North Carolina a biotechnology powerhouse. Perdue led efforts to expand health coverage to thousands more North Carolina children. A 14-year veteran of the state legislature, Perdue cosponsored legislation ensuring access to abortion clinics and to requiring insurance companies to cover birth control.
The first since Ann Richards. Not only would Perdue be North Carolina’s first female governor, she’d be the first pro-choice Democratic woman governor of a southern state since the late Ann Richards of Texas! But it won’t be easy: spending in this race is already on track to break records -- and the GOP nominee, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, can tap into his network of business elite. Perdue must raise $10 million to win this critical governor’s race and make sure a pro-choice Democrat is at the helm in North Carolina.
Two-term Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue has climbed higher in North Carolina state government than any woman before her, and is on track to be the state’s first woman governor. Perdue handily defeated her primary opponent, state Treasurer Richard Moore, May 6 -- staying positive for the last four weeks of the campaign in the face of vicious attacks from Moore. Her decisive 56-to-40 victory confirms that North Carolinians are ready for the positive change she embodies. Now she must build a war chest capable of defeating Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, an anti-choice Republican with strong ties to corporate interests.
Perdue is a former teacher with a Ph.D. in education administration -- but she also has a background in health care, and it was her experience as director of geriatrics at a community hospital that motivated her to run for office. In her first campaign, she was the only woman in a six-person primary for a state House seat. “People scoffed at me, although that just put fire in my eyes,” she recalls. “I won a crowded primary, and they’ve never again questioned whether a woman could win.”
In the state House and, later, the state Senate, Perdue was a strong advocate for seniors and a champion for progressive reform. She led successful efforts to improve the accountability of North Carolina’s public schools, to initiate statewide early childhood education and developmental programs, and to boost teacher salaries from 43rd to 21st in the nation. As co-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Perdue helped put the North Carolina Children’s Health Insurance Program into action and successfully fought for its expansion. Perdue cosponsored North Carolina’s clinic access law and legislation requiring health insurers to cover contraception. As governor, Perdue will be a bulwark against anti-choice legislation that could have profound implications at the federal level and lead to further restrictions on reproductive freedom by the Bush Supreme Court.
Perdue, who is angling to be the first pro-choice Democratic woman governor of a southern state since the late Ann Richards of Texas, was set on a leadership path by her mother, who encouraged her to use her talents for the greater good. When she was 14, her mother wrote her a note that said, “A woman who does not seek to make the most of herself is one whose spirit is dead.” She has taken those words to heart, blazing trails for other women to follow. “No longer do women have to focus on the three Hs: hairdos, hemlines, and husbands,” says Perdue. “A woman can be limited only by her imagination.”
Polling shows a neck-and-neck race between Perdue and McCrory. The recent presidential primary greatly increased Democratic registration in North Carolina, which will be a boon to Perdue and Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan (also endorsed by EMILY’s List) in November.
McCrory is an ambitious seven-term mayor who was tapped by Bush to sit on the Homeland Security Advisory Council. He has no voting record on critical social issues, including choice, but recently clarified lingering confusion over his position on abortion by telling reporters, “I am very much pro-life and that has always been my stance.”
McCrory, who is expected to mount a powerful advertising campaign, came out of the gate swinging, launching an attack on Perdue using the right wing’s favorite new wedge issue, immigration, within three days of the primary. His fundraising will be aided by his strong ties to corporate interests; he’s been endorsed by top executives at several of the national banks headquartered in Charlotte, including Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp.
Perdue’s folksy populism and record of instigating real changes for North Carolinians have made her a tremendously popular figure in the state. She’s been endorsed by teachers, social workers, transit workers, police officers, and health care workers. Winning the primary was a costly endeavor, and the general election is expected to break state records. Perdue will need at least $10 million to become North Carolina’s first female governor.
“Quality health care and education have been my two driving passions since long before I ever thought about running for office, and they remain my two overriding public policy commitments,” says Perdue. “I am running for governor to make North Carolina the healthiest and best-educated state in the nation.” Perdue will emphasize increasing the pay, status, and working conditions for public school teachers. She has a plan called the North Carolina College Promise, an initiative to ensure that a lack of family income isn’t a barrier to higher education for students who graduate from high school with good grades, good behavior, and community service.
Perdue is a leader in providing tax relief for working families. Her Working Families Agenda helped increase North Carolina’s minimum wage above the federal standard level and establish a state earned income tax credit for low-income families. As governor, she will continue to promote the Working Families Agenda, which includes strong support for child care assistance and affordable housing.
Perdue has played a critical role in making North Carolina a biotechnology powerhouse, a significant source of job creation. Her Green Business Fund would provide tax credits and incentives to businesses that develop alternative, sustainable energy sources, green building design, and other clean technologies. “North Carolina should be a leader in developing a green economy,” she says. “We have all the right assets, tremendous agricultural diversity, a thriving biotech sector, and world-class researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.” On taxes, she says, “my main concern is to make our tax structure more equitable for our middle- and low-income families, as well as for small businesses.”
Perdue cosponsored legislation to create the online sex offender registry and is working to strengthen laws against child predators, particularly those who use the Internet to prey on children. As governor, she will empower local law enforcement units by making sure they have the technology, expertise, and personnel to combat gang violence and other types of violent crime.
Perdue championed North Carolina’s Senior Care prescription drug benefit, which the state AARP called the best in the nation. She has also championed efforts to reduce teen smoking. She has released a detailed plan to ensure quality health care for all North Carolinians. “We must start covering uninsured parents as well as children, because health insurance is a family matter,” Perdue says. She will work to make private insurance more affordable, especially for small business employees and self-employed individuals, and says, “preventive care is the only real way to control the underlying cost of health care in the long run.”
Perdue was a driving force behind legislation that resulted in $1.3 billion to restore degraded waters and protect unpolluted waters in North Carolina. She is committed to preserving the state’s environment while simultaneously encouraging economic growth. She supports providing startup money for environmentally friendly enterprises, and promoting conservation and efficiency to help the state meet future energy demands.
Perdue is committed to preserving women’s reproductive freedom. “As North Carolina’s next governor, I will veto any legislation not consistent with Roe v. Wade, even if the current Supreme Court overturns Roe as a constitutional matter,” says Perdue.