Gov Bev Abandons Sinking Ship; UPDATE: Foxx Testing Waters
Gov. Beverly Perdue will not seek reelection, according to news reports, with a formal announcement scheduled for this afternoon. Facing sagging poll numbers, anticipated tough opposition from Republican Pat McCrory, and general angst within her own party, this hardly comes as a giant surprise.
Still, with the DNC headed to town it’s hard to imagine Perdue would pass up that kind of national exposure, for good or ill; politicians of her ilk are innately predisposed to seek the spotlight, even if it shines on glaringly apparent warts. Which leads to suspicion that there’s another shoe still to drop. That would hardly come as a huge surprise, either, given the, um, legal attention Perdue and her campaign has received.
Bonus Round: Matt Mittan weighs in with a ground-level view from Perdue’s office in Asheville:
As I walked into Perdue’s office in Asheville, NC, I made eye contact with Forrest Gilliam, Director of the Governor’s Western Office and waited at his open office door. He had just gotten on the phone at the time I entered his office. As I waited to talk to him he asked the person on the other end of the phone “Is it true?” Then following a short pause asked the person on the other end of the phone what they wanted him to do, to which he followed up with, “OK, I’ll just sit on it then.” He added toward the end of the conversation that ‘things are going kind of crazy around here.’
Once he finished with one more phone call, I introduced myself and who I was with, I asked if there was any truth to the reports. His response was “I don’t know anything.”
UPDATE: She’s quitting for the children. Perdue’s statement, released this afternoon:
Like the rest of the nation, North Carolina has been facing difficult economic times -demanding many difficult decisions. I have had to make painful budget cuts in important areas of government. But I believe I have approached this challenge in a way that is consistent with my values and the values that have made our state a wonderful place to live and raise a family. I have spent my tenure in office – and, in fact, my adult lifetime – fighting for things that I care deeply about. And as anyone who knows me will tell you, I do not back down from tough fights.
But I understand this: We live in highly partisan times, where some people seem more worried about scoring political points than working together to address the real challenges our state faces. And it is clear to me that my race for re-election will only further politicize the fight to adequately fund our schools. A re-election campaign in this already divisive environment will make it more difficult to find any bipartisan solutions.
The thing I care about most right now is making sure that our schools and schoolchildren do not continue to be the victims of shortsighted legislative actions and severe budget cuts inflicted by a legislative majority with the wrong priorities. Therefore, I am announcing today that I have decided not to seek re-election. I hope this decision will open the door to an honest and bipartisan effort to help our schools.
To those of you who have supported me throughout my years of public service, I will always be grateful for the confidence you have placed in me. In my remaining months in office, I look forward to continuing to fight for the priorities we share, by putting North Carolinians back to work and investing in our children’s future. To my children and grandchildren, and especially to my husband Bob, thank you for always being there for me – especially as I’ve weighed this difficult decision.
Thank you all, and God bless North Carolina.
Lame duck host for Democratic convention probably wasn’t the headlines Democrats were hoping for when they crowned the Queen City to host their big party, but that’s what they’re getting. This from Hot Air:
Instead of making a triumphant entry into Charlotte and lifting Perdue to re-election, Democrats from around the country will have their convention opened by a one-term governor who couldn’t win re-election even with a Democratic presidential incumbent on the top of the ticket and her party spending a ton of money in her state. That’s not exactly a winning message for Democrats this summer.
UPDATE: Foxx weighs in with a statement –
“Governor Beverly Perdue deserves our gratitude for guiding our state in very difficult times, and for being a good friend to the City of Charlotte. Her decision not to run for re-election came as a surprise to me. I remain focused on Charlotte and the substantial work ahead. I will spend the coming weeks talking with my family and friends about how I could best serve our city and state, and I ask the public and media for some patience as I work through those conversations.” – Mayor Anthony R. Foxx
That’s not exactly an emphatic ‘No, I’m not running – end of story.’
And somebody remind me, please, exactly how Gov Bev has been such a “good friend to the City of Charlotte.”
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