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The three announced Democratic candidates for governor are scheduled to appear together Friday night at the Wake County Democratic Party's 32nd annual Valentine Fund raiser.

Scheduled to speak are Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, Rep. Bill Faison and former Congressman Bob Etheridge.

The event, which start at 5;30 p.m. at the headquarters of the N.C. Association of Educators Building, is likely to be abuzz about who is and is not likely to get into the race.

Three major Democrats have said they are looking at the race, state Sen. Dan Blue, Congressman Brad Miller, and former state Treasurer Richard Moore.

The word on the street is that Blue seems to be leaning against entering the race. Miller was supposed to have made a decision a week ago, and every day that goes by without any word, raises questions about whether he is having doubts.

Moore is still making calls and seems the most likely of the three to enter the race at this juncture, according to several Democratic insiders.

With two of his children at his side, Democratic state lawmaker Bill Faison filed paperwork Monday afternoon to run for governor, enduring questions about his messy divorce in front of a bank of television reporters reacting to today's N&O story.

Faison, pictured center, said he is ready the primary campaign, even if it gets negative. "My kids and I have discussed this and we are together in moving forward to do the right thing," he said. "Ultimately the truth is the thing that is going to win out. The truth is that my kids are with me and the truth is that I have been with them and made choices, difficult and hard choices, in their best interest.

"You'd rather things be another way but they are not. I'm content to go forward and so are they," he concluded, turning to his daughter Courtney, pictured right, and son Stone, left. (UPDATE: See video of Q&A with reporters below.)

State Rep. Bill Faison started his campaign long before the other Democratic candidates for governor but the four-term Orange County Democrat's head start hasn't erased obstacles between him and the May 8 primary election. He had a dismal showing in the first poll of gubernatorial candidates. And Faison, 65, has been going through a protracted divorce that has aired nasty accusations that could be used against him.

The divorce - which includes accusations of extramarital affairs - would be an unfortunate but common he-said-she-said break-up that would not be a matter of broader interest were Faison not running for the highest office in the state. His decision to run in spite of it raises the question about how much a candidate's private behavior matters these days.

Faison, in an interview in his office in the state Legislative Office Building last week, seemed unperturbed about the prospect of it tarnishing his campaign. He said he is not worried because the accusations are untrue. Read more here.

North Carolina's governor's race consistently ranked as one of the most competitive in the nation for the past year. And despite Gov. Bev Perdue's departure, The Washington Post says it remains the one most likely to switch parties this election year.

"From the primary to the general election, it all translates to a contest that was and will continue to be the marquee governor’s race of November, perhaps even more so after Perdue’s exit," writes the Post's Aaron Blake. 

Read the full analysis at the newspaper's political blog here.

State politicos are waiting for former UNC President Erskine Bowles to say whether he'll run for governor. 

With Gov. Bev Perdue bowing out of the race, other Democrats are weighing their chances against the soon-to-be-official GOP candidate, former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory.

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and state Rep. Bill Faison have already announced they are running. Public Policy Polling has Bowles as the strongest Democratic candidate. 

But Bowles, as he announced his retirement from the UNC presidency in 2010, said he'd never run for political office again. He ran for U.S. Senate twice and lost. 

"I have empirical data that I was a terrible politician," he said. 

In a crowded Democratic field for governor, only Erskine Bowles can match Republican Pat McCrory at this point, according to a poll released Monday.

Bowles, the former two-time U.S. Senate candidate, trails McCrory 44 to 42 percent in a hypothetical matchup -- a virtual deadlock with McCrory's advantage within the 4.2 percent margin of error. The problem: Bowles isn't in the race yet.

The Public Policy Polling survey tested 13 Democratic candidates against McCrory, the likely GOP nominee and former Charlotte mayor, after Gov. Bev Perdue dropped out. Pollster Tom Jensen argues that Democrats have a better chance with Perdue out of the race. In a generic partisan matchup, voters split evenly -- 46 percent supporting a Democratic candidates and 45 percent supporting a Republican. 

North Carolina Democrats could be forgiven if they were silently humming the Kenny Rogers standard, ''you picked a fine time to leave me Lucille" as they gathered in Greensboro today in the first post-Perdue announcement campaign event, Rob Christensen reports.

Gov Bev Perdue's surprise announcement last week that she would not seek re-election left the Democratic Party scrambling to find a nominee, creating a 100-day sprint to May 8th primary -- something that is highly unusual if not unprecedented in recent decades in North Carolina Democratic politics.

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton was the first to jump in Thursday just hours after Perdue's announcement, and he was joined Saturday by state Rep. Bill Faison who announced his candidacy in Greensboro.

State Rep. Bill Faison announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor today in Greensboro and said he had been biding his time until Gov. Beverly Perdue announced her decision not to run for another term.
Faison, from Orange County, charged that "a radical few in the Republican Party" have taken over the state's legislative agenda since the GOP took control of both houses of the Legislature in the 2010 election.
Emphasizing jobs and education and the connection between them, Faison said Democrats "have the right issue for the right reasons the right way."
He supported reinstating a penny sales tax add-on to help fund jobs recovery. The Legislature let the extra tax die earlier this year.
"We are used to raising money to help each other out" in difficult times like Hurricanes, Faison told an audience of reports in Greensboro, where the state Democratic party will hold its annual dinner tonight.
Faison said it does not make sense to let business leave the state, and it is important to find ways to keep them with better education.
Referring to Republicans, Faison said, "I've been traveling around the state calling on them to come up with programs that matter."
"Not only have I come up with a plan, but I'm here to implement that plan," Faison said.
He said he had expected an announcement by Perdue "between Jan. 15 and Feb. 1" and that plans for his candidacy are "right on schedule."
"We've got the issues people care about," Faison said. he said he expects to have 40 percent name recognition in polls by the end of February.

State Rep. Bill Faison, an Orange County Democrat, wants a debate with likely Republican candidate for governor Pat McCrory on jobs.

Faison is talking about his proposal to increase the sales tax by seven-tenths of a penny, which he says will raise enough to restore teaching and teacher-aid jobs, and fully fund Medicaid and the government-subsidized health insurance program for children.

"What I'm trying to do is focus the attention of the Republicans on the jobs problem," he said. "We've got one, and it needs to be addressed."

McCrory did not respond to a telephone call seeking comment.

Faison talked government jobs in front of an audience of state employees this week with House Majority Leader Paul Stam of Apex on the other side.

A minority party state representative challenging a probable candidate for governor may add fuel to the speculation about Faison's personal jobs program. Not long ago, he was talking like a guy who wants to run for governor.

He said today that he's not going to challenge Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue in a primary.

"I'm trying to help people in the state" and help Democrats win control of the state House, he said.

Gov. Bev Perdue does not have to worry about a threat in a Democratic primary, according to a new poll.

Perdue would defeat state Rep. Bill Faison by a 62-18 margin in a primary, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic leaning firm based in Raleigh.

She has strong support in every segment in the party, the poll found, including 62 percent among those who consider themselves very liberal, 72 percent among those who are somewhat liberal, 61 percent among moderates, 59 percent among women, 67 percent among women, 58 percent among men,  68 percent among blacks, 54 percent with young voters, and 68 percent with seniors.

While Perdue trails likely Republican challenger Pat McCrory by a 47-42 percent margin, some of the other Democrats whose names have been bandied about as potential Perdue alternatives do not do any better.

Faison would start a race with McCrory down 45-30, while Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton would start a McCrory race down 46-32, according to the poll.

Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper would start a race with McCrory trailing by three points, 42-39, while former University of North Carolina president Erskine Bowles would start a race with McCrory tied at 42 percent.

The survey of 760 voters, including 353 Democratic voters, was conducted Sept. 30 to Oct. 3. The margin of error for the general election mandates is 3.6 percent and the margin of error for Democratic primary match-ups is plus or minus 5.2 percent.