The Pew Charitable Trusts

If the strain of divided government wasn't already showing in North Carolina - where the Republican-led General Assembly has been doing battle with Democratic Governor Bev Perdue all session - it became dramatically obvious on Sunday (June 12), when Perdue vetoed the GOP's $19.7 billion budget.

She became the first North Carolina governor in history to veto a state budget.

Perdue, who has to deal with the first Republican-led state legislature since Reconstruction, lambasted the GOP spending plan as overly harsh in its spending cuts on education, human services, public safety, the environment and other areas, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported .

"I will not put my name on a plan that so blatantly ignores the values of North Carolina's people," Perdue said. "I cannot support a budget that sends the message that North Carolina is moving backwards, when we have always been a state that led the nation."

But Republicans appear to have the upper hand in the budget showdown. They have enough votes in the state Senate to override Perdue's veto, and in the state House, five Democrats are lining up with Republicans, making an override in that chamber likely as well.

The five Democrats who so far are bucking their party are doing so "to avoid a prolonged impasse between Perdue and Republican legislators," The News & Observer reported - one that could eventually result in a government shutdown. "It would cause a horrible mess," one of the five Democrats said.

To sustain her veto, Perdue is hoping to get at least two House Democrats to change their minds in the coming days.