NEW BERN -- Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue officially launched her long-expected bid for the governor's mansion this evening, aiming to be the state's first female chief executive and setting up a bruising and expensive primary fight.

Perdue rallied supporters at an evening barbecue-and-chips crowd at the riverside convention center in her adopted hometown of New Bern, the state's first capital.

Highlighting her work as a schoolteacher and hospital administrator, she declared her mission to establish first-rate education and accessible and affordable health care in the state.

"My goal for North Carolina is not only to be the best educated state in America," Perdue told the crowd of more than 500, "but also the healthiest state in America."

Perdue was quick to trumpet her potential role in history, reminding the crowd in the fifth sentence of her speech that she was the first woman to hold the No. 2 job in the state as she made her case for a promotion.

She faces a brawl for the Democratic nomination with State Treasurer Richard Moore and a general election climate that could shift sharply, depending on her party's pick for president.

While Perdue may be the last major party candidate to join the race, she set her trajectory toward the campaign years ago. She has maximized what little platform her office provides in hopes of avoiding its history: The last four lieutenant governors to run for governor have failed.

For nearly seven years, Perdue has held an office for which a primary duty is to wait around in case the governor dies or gets indicted, but she has adeptly built a bully pulpit where none existed.

Perdue has chaired the state's Health & Wellness Trust Fund, which channels national tobacco settlement money to programs that address pivotal health care issues, such as curbing underage smoking and helping seniors with prescription drug costs.

"That's real progress," Perdue said, "and that, my friends, is real leadership."

Perdue's home turf in eastern North Carolina is thick with military bases. She also took charge of the state's successful efforts to ward off the last round of base closings and make North Carolina even more armed forces friendly.

A native of Grundy, Va., Perdue grew up in coal territory, a land of low pay and hard work. Her father was a coal miner who ended up a wealthy coal mine owner.

The latter point was omitted from her "coal miner's daughter" commercial in 2000 that drew criticism.

She earned a history degree at the University of Kentucky and advanced degrees, including a Ph.D., at the University of Florida. She fell in love with North Carolina while visiting her brother here in the 1970s and moved.

She jumped into politics, and was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1986 and the Senate in 1990.

In the Senate, she rose to one of the most powerful posts as an appropriations committee chair. She effectively navigated the male-dominated legislative chamber where colleagues called her "Dumplin'" but also invited her to go drinking.

She demonstrated an expertise on education and aging issues and served as a key liaison for then-Gov. Jim Hunt.