Governor's Race

At barbecue joints and greasy-spoon diners, in stump speeches and on the airwaves, the tumultuous race to be North Carolina's next governor is sizzling away.

It's not as splashy as the presidential race, which is playing out in big arenas and outdoor rallies around the state. But entering the campaign's homestretch, the contest between Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory is the closest race for governor in the country this year.

"It's tight as a tick," said former Gov. Jim Hunt in a recent interview, summing up the state of the race as effectively as any of the numerous polls, which all show a dead heat.

It'd be wrong to expect anything less from these two candidates, both of whom have 20 years of public service, and neither of whom has ever lost an election.

Perdue, a Democrat, began her undefeated streak in 1986, when she won a seat in the N.C. House of Representatives from a rural district in Eastern North Carolina. She ended up serving seven two-year terms in the legislature (two in the House, and five in the N.C. Senate), before being elected twice more as the state's lieutenant governor, the job she holds now.

McCrory, a Republican, was a teenager when he won his first election, becoming student-body president at Ragsdale High School in Jamestown. Beginning in 1989, he won three successive terms on the Charlotte City Council, and then, in 1995, he ran successfully for mayor of Charlotte. He remains mayor today, having been re-elected six times -- which makes him the longest-serving mayor in the city's history.

But in a little more than a week, either Perdue's or McCrory's streak will end.

Both candidates expressed cautious optimism last week as they scurried between last-minute fundraisers, campaign rallies and forums with voters.

National advocacy groups have poured millions of dollars into the state to advertise on behalf of Perdue and McCrory. In the meantime, the economic crisis has increased the likelihood that the next governor will face a significant budget shortfall immediately upon taking office.

And both candidates would be beating certain odds simply by moving into the governor's mansion. No woman has ever been governor of North Carolina, and there have been only two Republican governors here in the past 100 years.

"We're exceeding the expectations of all the political pundits," a visibly exhausted McCrory said last week between campaign events.

Aboard a van that was shuttling Perdue and two reporters from one campaign appearance to another, Perdue spoke about struggling to break into the male-dominated world of North Carolina politics.

"I've spent my whole life, my entire life, listening to people tell me I can't do it," she said.

Contrasting styles on the trail

A third candidate, Libertarian Mike Munger, is also on the ballot in the race. Munger, a professor of political science at Duke University, has distinguished himself from the two major candidates on a number of issues. For instance, he supports legalizing same-sex marriage and enacting a moratorium on capital punishment.

Munger said that his goal is to get 2 percent of the vote, which would guarantee the Libertarians an automatic spot on the ballot in 2012.

As for McCrory and Perdue, it's hard to imagine two candidates for governor who could be more different.

On the campaign trail, McCrory's most striking characteristic is his social energy. He is gregarious and eager to please, practically leaving a trail of charisma as he works the room.

Perdue is a natural politician, too. But what's most striking about her is not affability, but empathy. Especially in these economic times, she wants her audiences to believe that she feels their pain.

While McCrory backslaps, Perdue hugs. And while McCrory speaks in intense, declarative sentences, Perdue tends to be more oblique, using folksy anecdotes or lofty generalizations to make her points.

Their contrasting styles seem to originate in their very different backgrounds.

McCrory, despite his 19 years in city government, is very much a product of the private sector. He grew up in Jamestown, a small town outside Greensboro, and he attended Catawba College in Salisbury. But he has lived most of his adult life in Charlotte, where he spent almost 30 years at Duke Energy before leaving his post as an executive in order to run for governor.

He may be a Republican in a city with a Democratic majority, but in Charlotte, it is the Chamber of Commerce -- not any political party -- that holds key influence on many issues. And McCrory has deep ties to the coalition of Democrats, moderate Republicans and banking and business interests that form the corporate power structure in Uptown Charlotte.

Most of his major achievements as mayor were supported by the business community. Those include a new arena for the Charlotte Bobcats, a NASCAR Hall of Fame, and a light-rail system that is financed by a local sales tax increase that voters approved.

McCrory sometimes found himself more at odds with conservative members of his own party than with Democrats.

Don Reid, a former member of the Charlotte City Council, criticized McCrory for focusing only on "the beautiful toys that the Uptown crowd wanted," to the detriment of the rest of the city, he said.

"He didn't like me because I was willing to stand up to some of these Republicans that were acting like Democrats, and he was one of them," Reid said. "And I was very critical of those people, including the mayor."

Long record in Raleigh

Perdue, for her part, worked as a schoolteacher and then a health-care consultant early in her career. But she rose to prominence firmly within the political realm, and along the way, she established connections with all of the state's strong, traditional Democratic constituencies -- among them teachers, state employees and the health-care industry.

She became one of the leaders of the Democratic majority in the state Senate, serving as a key budget writer.

As lieutenant governor, Perdue holds a position with a large bully pulpit but few formal powers. In that role, she has lobbied the federal government to protect the state's military bases from closure. She has also worked on health issues, such as making high schools tobacco-free, and she started a fund that provides state grants to companies in renewable-energy technology.

She also cast the tie-breaking vote that created the N.C. Lottery in 2005.

Perdue has taken great pains throughout the campaign to cast herself as an agent of change working within the channels of state government. She has distanced herself from Mike Easley, the outgoing governor. And she has proposed several government reforms, such as a bipartisan commission to streamline the state budget, and a public-financing program for future campaigns for governor.

But her long record in Raleigh has made her an easy target for Republicans in a year in which anti-incumbent sentiment is running high.

"I think the Democrats have just gotten way too comfortable running state government, and they've taken it for granted," said Chris McClure, the executive director of the N.C. Republican Party. "You have somebody (in McCrory) who's shown leadership abilities as mayor, compared to somebody who's really a Raleigh insider who could be more of the same."

Perdue responds that she has always worked independently, and as a woman, she has never been a part of the entrenched political club.

But John Davis, a veteran political consultant and election forecaster in North Carolina, believes that voters' anti-establishment sentiment will help McCrory, whose chief campaign theme is that of an upstart outsider who can clean up Raleigh.

"It's not that she's made mistakes," Davis said of Perdue. "It's that she has a very, very attractive, tough opponent who is the outsider and who is 51 years old at a time when voters are looking for fresh faces and a new generation of leaders." (Actually, McCrory turned 52 this month. Perdue is 61.)

Disagreements on policy

Ideologically, Perdue and McCrory differ on some of the major policy issues in state government.

McCrory has indicated a willingness to explore market-based solutions in areas such as health care and education. For instance, he supports the targeted use of school vouchers for certain high-needs students. He also opposes Perdue's plan to offer free, taxpayer-financed tuition at the state's community colleges.

Perdue has proposed large expansions of a number of existing government programs, although she has recently said that some of those expansions -- such as her plan to increase public health insurance for children -- may need to be postponed during the current financial crisis because the state will have less money to spend.

McCrory's educational and economic platforms rely on emphasizing vocational skills.

Not every student needs a four-year college degree, McCrory often says on the campaign trail. Instead, he argues, they should learn a technical skill in industries with jobs that are hard to fill. It's one of his biggest applause lines in his stump speech.

But that rhetoric can also rub the wrong way. Speaking in Winston-Salem to a meeting of the state's nursing association, McCrory referred to nursing as a "trade" -- rather than a profession -- and grouped it with jobs such as plumbers and electricians. Some nurses in attendance said that offended them.

At a campaign stop last week at Brunswick Community College, Perdue pushed back against McCrory's vocational emphasis.

"Some folks running for office say you only need one skill," Perdue told a small group of officials at the college. "You've got to have the capacity to innovate and be an entrepreneur."

Former Gov. James Hunt, a Democrat who was in office from 1977 to 1985 and again from 1993 to 2001, praised Perdue's understanding of the need to compete in the global economy.

"I called her about a month or two ago, and I said, ‘Beverly, when you get in office, we've got to put a North Carolina office in China to recruit industry here,'" Hunt recalled. "And she said, ‘And India.' She was one step ahead."

Whoever is elected governor, the most immediate issue will be the faltering economy and its effect on the state budget. Some projections show that the state could be facing a shortfall of as much as $2 billion next year.

Both Perdue and McCrory said that any tax increases would be off the table. But neither gave specific examples of programs or areas they would cut in order to make up the shortfall.

"The new governor is going to inherit a fiscal crisis that will require being willing to do some pretty unpopular things to resolve the situation," said John Hood, the president of the John Locke Foundation, a conservative-leaning research group in Raleigh.

Hood said he believes that both candidates have the necessary political talents.

"I think they have it in them to confront the public with the inescapable facts, and rally support for difficult choices."

■ James Romoser can be reached at 919-210-6794 or at jromoser@wsjournal.com.

On the issues

Here is where Republican Pat McCrory and Democrat Bev Perdue stand on some of the issues in the North Carolina governor's race:

Death penalty

•McCrory: Supports the use of the death penalty. Wants to end the legal dispute that has forced a de facto moratorium on executions in North Carolina.

• Perdue: Supports the use of the death penalty and wants the de facto moratorium to end. Wants to make sure that defendants have proper constitutional protections and capable lawyers.

N.C. Lottery

•McCrory: In a questionnaire earlier this year, he stated that he would favor the repeal of the lottery, but he has also said that repealing it would be difficult because the state now depends on the money.

• Perdue: Cast the tie-breaking vote to create the lottery. Supports a constitutional amendment to guarantee that lottery proceeds be used for education.

Mental-health care

•McCrory: Wants to establish citizen councils to review contracts and certify nonprofits that work in mental health. Believes that the state should not reduce the number of beds available in state-run psychiatric hospitals. Says that the mental-health system needs new leadership and more accountability.

• Perdue: Supports comprehensive mental-health parity so that insurers must treat mental illnesses as equivalent to physical illnesses. Wants to emphasize community-based care and focus on improving treatment in rural and under-served areas. Proposes special mental-health courts to get treatment for minor offenders with mental-health problems.

Offshore drilling

•McCrory: Strongly supports drilling for oil and natural gas off the coast of North Carolina.

•Perdue: Previously opposed drilling off the coast of North Carolina, but now says she would allow drilling if it could be done safely.

Illegal immigration

•McCrory: Opposes allowing illegal immigrants to attend state community colleges. Supports the 287(g) program that allows local law enforcement agencies to identify and deport illegal immigrants who commit crimes. Wants the federal government to open an immigration detention center in North Carolina.

• Perdue: Opposes allowing illegal immigrants to attend state community colleges. Supports giving more money to counties to participate in the 287(g) program.

N.C. governor's race

Pat McCrory (Republican)

• Age: 52.

• Lives in: Charlotte.

• Job: Mayor of Charlotte and former economic-development consultant at Duke Energy.

• Political / civic experience: In 1989, was elected to the Charlotte City Council and served three terms. In 1995, was elected mayor of Charlotte and is now in his seventh term.

• Top priority if elected: "As governor, I will be North Carolina's chief advocate, and will work hard to bring and keep good and stable jobs to the citizens of North Carolina."

Bev Perdue (Democrat)

• Age: 61.

• Lives in:
Chapel Hill and New Bern.

• Job: Lieutenant governor.

• Political / civic experience: In 1986, was elected to the N.C. House of Representatives and served two two-year terms. In 1990, was elected to the N.C. Senate and served five two-year terms. Ran successfully for lieutenant governor in 2000 and was re-elected in 2004.

• Top priority if elected: "My priority is building a new North Carolina for our hard-working families, with better schools, affordable and accessible health care, and 21st-century jobs."