Governor Beverly Perdue issued a statement today she would not run for re-election. She claimed it would get in the way of improving education in North Carolina. Political analysts say she had very little chance of winning anyway. Perdue won by a very small margin over former Republican Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory mainly because she ran on the coattails of President Obama who carried the state. But this time around polls show Obama doesn’t have nearly the groundswell of support he had in 2008. The same polls reflect a loss of support from voters for Perdue.
Recently three of Perdue’s former campaign staffers were indicted for obstruction of justice for hiding money paid for plane flights and supplementing one staff member’s salary. An investigation by Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby is continuing into her campaign spending and contributions.
McCrory says he’ll run again and will make the announcement January 31. He did release a brief statement after hearing Perdue’s decision.
My message has been and will continue to be that we must fix our broken government and broken economy and put our North Carolina resources back to work. That’s why next week I plan to announce my intentions to seek the honor of serving as North Carolina’s next Governor.”
There is speculation Democratic Lt. Governor Walter Dalton will step up and run against McCrory. Rep. Bill Faison (D-Orange) has also been acting like a candidate for some time now. There is also mention of Erskine Bowles as a possible replacement for Perdue. Democrat Bowles ran for the U.S. Senate in 2002 but was defeated by Republican Elizabeth Dole. Bowles also was appointed by President Obama to an economic advisory committee.
North Democratic Party Executive Director Jay Parmley says chances are there will be more than one person in the Democratic primary.
The filing period for candidates in North Carolina opens February 13.
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