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. Purdue was born in Boone County,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and grew up on a small farm. In 1972 he graduated from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. Whilst at University he was active in

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times ...

and the

Future Farmers of America The National FFA Organization or FFA is an American nonprofit career and technical student organization, which offers middle and high school classes that promote and support agricultural education. Future Farmers of Virginia (FFV) was founded in ...

, becoming a 4-H All Star. He has a wife, Robin, with whom he has two daughters.

Political career

In 1989 he became Executive Assistant to West Virginia Governor

Gaston Caperton William Gaston Caperton III (born February 21, 1940) is an American politician who served as the 31st governor of West Virginia from 1989 to 1997. He was president of the College Board, which administers the nationally recognized SAT and Advanced ...

, 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 Earl Ray Tomblin (born March 15, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 35th governor of West Virginia from 2011 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the West Virginia Senate from 1980 to 2011 and as p ...

. 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 50.4% of the vote, whilst Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

won the state in the concurrent Presidential election with 68.5% of the vote. Following governor

Jim Justice James Conley Justice II (born April 27, 1951) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from West Virginia. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2017 to 2025 as the 36th gover ...

’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 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

to Republican

Riley Moore Riley McGowan Moore (born July 1, 1980) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district since January 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 25th West Vi ...

. His 24 year tenure as treasurer is the longest in the history of the office. In December 2021 he was appointed by Joe Biden as State Executive Director for USDA's Farm Service Agency in West Virginia.

Electoral history

References

External links

West Virginia State Treasurer
1950 births 21st-century West Virginia politicians Baptists from West Virginia Living people People from Boone County, West Virginia People from Kanawha County, West Virginia State treasurers of West Virginia West Virginia Democrats West Virginia University alumni 20th-century West Virginia politicians {{WestVirginia-politician-stub