John Perdue

{{BLP sources|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = John Perdue |image = John Perdue.jpg |office = West Virginia State Treasurer |governor = Cecil Underwood Bob Wise Joe Manchin Earl Ray Tomblin Jim Justice |term_start = January 13, 1997 |term_end = January 18, 2021 |predecessor = Larrie Bailey |successor = Riley Moore |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|6|22}} |birth_place = Boone County, West Virginia, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |party = Democratic |spouse = Robin Perdue |children = 2 |education = West Virginia University (BA) }} '''John D. Perdue''' (born June 22, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 24th West Virginia State Treasurer from 1997 to 2021. He is the latest Democratic candidate to receive more than 50% of the vote in the state. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wvsto.com/Treasurer/Pages/Bio.aspx |accessdate=February 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003221600/http://www.wvsto.com/Treasurer/Pages/Bio.aspx |archivedate=October 3, 2010 |title=Meet John Perdue }}</ref>

Purdue was born in Boone County, West Virginia and grew up on a small farm. In 1972 he graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. Whilst at University he was active in 4-H and the Future Farmers of America, becoming a 4-H All Star.

He has a wife, Robin, with whom he has two daughters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/West-Virginia/sed-biography/index |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607204529/https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/West-Virginia/sed-biography/index |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 7, 2021 | title=John D. Perdue, State Executive Director | date=11 October 2020 | publisher=USDA | access-date=11 August 2023}}</ref>

==Political career==

In 1989 he became Executive Assistant to West Virginia Governor Gaston Caperton, serving as a member of his staff for eight years.

In 1996 he won election as state treasurer as a member of the Democratic Party, a position he would hold for six terms. He was easily re-elected in his subsequent three elections, with no Republican even filing to run against him in 2000 and 2008.

Following Governor Joe Manchin's resignation in 2010 to take his seat in the US Senate, he stood in the subsequent gubernatorial special election. He finished fourth in the Democratic Primary, which was won by Earl Ray Tomblin.

His re-election in 2012 was closer than previous elections, winning 55% of the vote compared to his previous lowest of 60%. In 2016 he was re-elected with 50.3% of the vote, whilst Republican Donald Trump won the state in the concurrent Presidential election with 68.5% of the vote.

Following governor Jim Justice’s defection to the Republican Party in 2017, Purdue was left as the only Democrat holding statewide office in West Virginia besides Joe Manchin.

Perdue lost his bid for a seventh term in 2020 to Republican Riley Moore.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wvmetronews.com/2020/11/03/attorney-general-and-auditor-races-called-for-incumbents/|title = Riley Moore knocks off 6-term Treasurer John Perdue, leading GOP sweep of executive offices|date = 4 November 2020}}</ref> His 24 year tenure as treasurer is the longest in the history of the office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wvpublic.org/republican-moore-defeats-longtime-w-va-state-treasurer-perdue-in-general-election/ | title=Republican Moore Defeats Longtime W.Va. State Treasurer Perdue In General Election | date=4 November 2020 | publisher=West Virginia Public Broadcasting | access-date=11 August 2023}}</ref>

In December 2021 he was appointed by Joe Biden as State Executive Director for USDA's Farm Service Agency in West Virginia.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.fsa.usda.gov/news-events/news/12-15-2021/biden-administration-appoints-john-perdue-serve-state-executive | title=Biden Administration Appoints John Perdue to Serve as State Executive Director for USDA's Farm Service Agency in West Virginia | date=27 May 2022 | publisher=USDA | access-date=11 August 2023}}</ref>

== Electoral history == {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |West Virginia Treasurer Election, 1996 |- |'''Party''' |'''Candidate''' |'''Votes''' |'''%''' |- |Democratic |'''John Perdue''' |341,395 |60.60 |- |Republican |Stan Klos |222,071 |39.40 |} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |West Virginia Treasurer Election, 2000 |- |'''Party''' |'''Candidate''' |'''Votes''' |'''%''' |- |Democratic |'''John Perdue (inc.)''' |468,870 |100.00 |} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |West Virginia Treasurer Election, 2004<ref>{{cite web| url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=54&year=2004&off=8&elect=0 | title= 2004 State Treasurer General Election Results - West Virginia | publisher=US Elections Atlas | access-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> |- |'''Party''' |'''Candidate''' |'''Votes''' |'''%''' |- |Democratic |'''John Perdue (inc.)''' |433,229 |62.94 |- |Republican |Bob Adams |255,046 |37.06 |} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |West Virginia Treasurer Election, 2008<ref>{{cite web | url=https://apps.sos.wv.gov/elections/results/results.aspx?eid=4&county=Statewide | title=West Virginia Statewide Results 2008 | publisher= West Virginia Secretary of State Website | access-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> |- |'''Party''' |'''Candidate''' |'''Votes''' |'''%''' |- |Democratic |'''John Perdue (inc.)''' |520,406 |100.00 |} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |West Virginia Governor Special Democratic Primary Election, 2011<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/Documents/Primary%20-%20Official%20Results.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=August 11, 2023 |archive-date=September 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915222001/http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/Documents/Primary%20-%20Official%20Results.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> |- |'''Party''' |'''Candidate''' |'''Votes''' |'''%''' |- |Democratic |'''Earl Ray Tomblin''' |51,348 |40.40 |- |Democratic |Rick Thompson |30,631 |24.10 |- |Democratic |Natalie Tennant |22,106 |17.39 |- |Democratic |John Perdue |15,995 |12.58 |- |Democratic |Jeff Kessler |6,550 |5.15 |- |Democratic |Arne Moltis |481 |0.38 |} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |West Virginia Treasurer Election, 2012<ref>{{cite web| url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2012&off=8&elect=0&fips=54 |title=2012 State Treasurer General Election Results | publisher=US Election atlas | access-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> |- |'''Party''' |'''Candidate''' |'''Votes''' |'''%''' |- |Democratic |'''John Perdue (inc.)''' |348,267 |55.41 |- |Republican |Mike Hall |280,316 |44.59 |} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |West Virginia Treasurer Election, 2016<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/west-virginia|title=West Virginia Election Results 2016|date=2018-06-15|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-11|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> |- |'''Party''' |'''Candidate''' |'''Votes''' |'''%''' |- |Democratic |'''John Perdue (inc.)''' |335,980 |50.4 |- |Republican |Ann Urling |291,710 |43.7 |} {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="4" |West Virginia Treasurer Election, 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/WV/106210/web.264614/#/summary |title=2020 West Virginia Election Results | publisher=Scytl | access-date=11 August 2023}}</ref> |- |'''Party''' |'''Candidate''' |'''Votes''' |'''%''' |- |Democratic |John Perdue (inc.) |330,316 |43.7 |- |Republican |'''Riley Moore''' |425,745 |56.3 |}

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://wvtreasury.com/ West Virginia State Treasurer] {{CongLinks|votesmart=15537}}

{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Larrie Bailey}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for West Virginia State Treasurer|years=1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020}} {{s-inc|recent}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Larrie Bailey}} {{s-ttl|title=Treasurer of West Virginia|years=1997–2021}} {{s-aft|after=Riley Moore}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perdue, John}} Category:1950 births Category:21st-century West Virginia politicians Category:Baptists from West Virginia Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Boone County, West Virginia Category:Politicians from Kanawha County, West Virginia Category:State treasurers of West Virginia Category:West Virginia Democrats Category:West Virginia University alumni Category:20th-century West Virginia politicians