NC Dem Governor To Retire

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue announced yesterday that she will not seek reelection. This may not bode well for Democrats looking to hold an important swing state that is also the host of this year's convention. Some Democrats, however, are cheering Perdue's departure as she is under federal investigation for campaign finance improprieties.

The Democratic surge in Dixie looked like the beginning of a political realignment — an electoral shift so promising that party leaders decided to hold their 2012 national convention in Charlotte, the Queen City of the South. Now, Republicans are emboldened by the ripe chance to reclaim power up and down the ballot. “North Carolina has always been a competitive state, but the 2012 prospects are much dimmer for Obama after the events of the last 24 hours,” said GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry. “Obama’s chosen convention site has a state party in chaos.” Unpopular and under investigation, Perdue’s removal from the ticket came as a relief to many top Democrats who feared she would drag down Obama and other down-ballot candidates.

Koch Brothers front group Americans For Prosperity today fired out a triumphant press release upon the news of Perdue's retirement.

The announcement came just one week after her ill-timed proposal to raise $800 million in taxes and after a year of having her vetoes overrode by the state legislature. Residents in North Carolina have signaled that they favor economic freedom, low taxes, and limited government over heavy regulation and out-of-control spending. “Governor Perdue has relentlessly pursued an agenda of higher taxes and bigger government,” says Americans for Prosperity – North Carolina state director Dallas Woodhouse. “Her opposition to free-market reforms such as allowing temporary sales and income tax hikes to expire, medical malpractice reform, regulatory reform, and the energy jobs act, has simply made her unelectable."

RELATED: Perdue has said that she believes marriage should remain limited to heterosexual couples, but that she'll personally vote against the pending constitutional amendment because the state should have "more important" priorities. Maybe now, with nothing to lose, she'll come out on the side of equality.

UPDATE: Readers in NC email to point out that Perdue's retirement means that now there will be a Democratic gubernatorial primary on the same day as the vote on the marriage amendment. That's a very good thing.