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Congratulations to Beverly Perdue for being elected North Carolina's first female governor. While electing a woman a state's top executive isn't that extraordinary -- 22 other states have done so before North Carolina -- it's still noteworthy. Remember: When Perdue began her political career in the mid-'80s, the Democratic leadership down east was unwilling at first to back her because it didn't think women belonged in the General Assembly.

Perceptions, of course, have changed since then, but it's been in large part because of women like Perdue, who showed herself to be a hard-working, successful candidate and legislator. Over the years, she rose to become the first female chairwoman of the state Senate appropriations committee and then lieutenant governor.

Now Perdue faces a new challenge: leading North Carolina during tough economic times. Frankly, we didn't see Perdue as the candidate best suited to take on this formidable task. Her platform is filled with costly initiatives -- free community college, expansion of the state's child health insurance program, to name only two -- that seem more appropriate to good economic times than bad.

But remarks she has made in recent weeks show that she's beginning to face the gray skies. Her spokesman said Tuesday night that she will "start right away" figuring out how to deal with the state's $1 billion to $2 billion budget shortfall, an encouraging sign.

Maybe she could tap into the expertise of her primary rival, state Treasurer Richard Moore, who has been praised nationally for his management of the state's pension funds. Despite a bitter primary battle, Perdue seems, through recent remarks, to be interested in repairing their relationship.)

Perdue said during the campaign that she will "be a bold leader who will take on the hard stuff." Besides finances, there is plenty of "hard stuff" for her to tackle. She'll need to:

* Take a stand against the business-as-usual politics that permeates the General Assembly. Perdue is a product of that system as she was part of the legislature's Democratic machine. Will she look the other way or call out party members who engage in questionable practices? More important, will she lead reform efforts?

* Run a transparent governor's office. Gov. Mike Easley has been less than open. Perdue needs to share information with the public.

* Offer leadership for all of North Carolina. That includes Mecklenburg County, the home of her defeated Republican rival, Pat McCrory, which often feels neglected by Raleigh.

* Keep the nation -- and world -- looking to North Carolina. Site Selection magazine has ranked the state No. 1 in terms of business climate for the fourth year in a row. Perdue needs to aggressively pursue cutting-edge initiatives that advance North Carolina's appeal.

It's a tall order. Perdue's tenacity, vision, legislative and budgetary experience and connections should help her tackle it.