The decision followed revelations that one distributor of wine and liquor tried to raise money for Perdue, a Democrat, by telling industry colleagues she was "vital" to their agenda and would reappoint the controversial chair of the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.
Perdue's campaign told the executive, Paul Criscuolo, to cease and desist Feb. 22.
Her campaign returned a $2,000 contribution from Criscuolo March 20, according to campaign finance reports released late Tuesday. It then returned an additional $3,100 from five sources April 19 as campaign officials were examining their books ahead of a reporting deadline.
Perdue spokesman David Kochman said the five sources did not give money because of an e-mail Criscuolo sent. Most of them gave in April, he said.
"To prevent even the appearance of any money being raised from that e-mail, we returned all contributions that we found from that industry," Kochman said.
The money represents a fraction of 1 percent of Perdue's fundraising from Jan. 1 through April 19.
One of the contributors whose money was reported as returned said Wednesday he did not know Criscuolo and knew of the fundraising questions only from reading Wednesday's newspaper.
The News & Observer in Raleigh questioned Doug Fox, the ABC Commission chair, about Criscuolo on April 18, a day before Perdue's campaign returned the $3,100. Kochman said the interview was not related to the decision to return the money.
Criscuolo's office said last week he was out of the country until early May and could not be reached for comment.
Fox, the state's top alcohol regulator, has drawn scrutiny over trips funded by a trade association that represents states with government-run liquor stores and his efforts to relax some regulations on liquor.
Treasurer Richard Moore, Perdue's rival for the Democratic nomination for governor, called on Perdue Wednesday to distance herself from Fox.
"The more we find out about Doug Fox's relationship with Bev Perdue, the more troubling it becomes," Moore's campaign manager Jay Reiff said in a statement. "The simple way for Perdue to clear this matter up is to publicly promise the voters she will not reappoint Doug Fox."
Kochman declined to comment on Fox's qualifications.
"It's just more of their campaign distracting from the issues," Kochman said. "They're continuing to run an over-the-top negative campaign in every medium possible."
Fox hosted an event for Perdue at his house on April 18. Perdue attended the event, which her campaign said was a "meet and greet" and not a fundraiser.
