In 1995, state Senate leader Marc Basnight planned to appoint Perdue to lead the influential committee that decides how to spend billions of taxpayer money. Her colleagues in the Senate convinced Basnight that she didn't have enough experience.

Basnight went to see Perdue to break the bad news. For 30 minutes, he listened quietly as Perdue talked about the things she wanted to do for North Carolina.

"She was very convincing," said Basnight, who made her the first female chairwoman of the Senate appropriations committee. It was a big deal then, a woman wielding so much power in a good-ol-boy world.

Things have changed a little since then. In her last three terms in the Senate, Perdue was ranked among the top six most effective legislators. She became the state's first female lieutenant governor in 2000 and was re-elected four years later. The woman no one took seriously is now a contender to become the state's first female governor.

"I've fought the status quo my entire life," Perdue said in an interview. "I've lived my life believing that there isn't any kind of existing paradigm that can't once in a while be changed."

Her supporters say that her passion for North Carolina and her ability to win people over is what would make her a great governor. Her critics say she is a starkly ambitious politician who will follow any shift in the political winds to get elected.

Perdue's political career is full of contradictions.

Her legislative colleagues say she is tough and forceful, although in public she keeps a sweet smile on her face, even when she lobs an attack at political foes. She's a seasoned speaker, having traversed the state for years talking to any group that would listen. But State Treasurer Richard Moore, her chief opponent in the Democratic race for governor, has slammed her for what he says is an attempt to duck debates.

She pitches herself as "Bev," a regular gal from Main Street even as she has become a pillar of North Carolina's political establishment.

Perdue says she hates big money campaigns and wants to limit them, but she's an aggressive fundraiser who has out-performed everyone running for governor. She has criticized Moore for taking money from investors and companies who do business with the pension fund he oversees.

Coal miner's daughter

Beverly Marlene Moore was born Jan. 14, 1947, in Grundy, Va. She was the daughter of a coal miner who worked his way up to owning several companies and becoming a partner in United Coal.

Perdue's brother was a doctor at Cherry Point, and, on a visit, Perdue fell in love with North Carolina. She moved to New Bern in 1975.

Her first husband, Gary Raymond Perdue Sr., was a lawyer in New Bern. The couple had two children before divorcing in 1994. Perdue later married Robert Eaves Jr. in Craven County. She changed her name to Beverly Eaves Perdue in 1998.

In 1986, Perdue was elected to the state House during turbulent times. Liston Ramsey had become a powerful speaker, and members were increasingly intolerant of what they saw as Ramsey's iron grip. In 1989, a coalition of dissident Democrats and Republicans secretly planned a coup.

The stakes were high --if the coup failed, the plotters feared Ramsey's retribution would be severe, said Joe Mavretic, who helped organize the coup. On a Sunday night before the House was to elect a speaker, the dissidents met. Perdue, who had not been included in the plans, showed up, Mavretic said. She said she wanted in.

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