Sheriff Andy Taylor would vote for John McCain and Beverly Perdue.

According to a survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the fictional Mayberry sheriff played by Andy Griffith would split his ticket in state and federal races.

In the presidential race, 35 percent of likely voters said he would vote for McCain, followed by 25 percent for Barack Obama and five percent for Libertarian Bob Barr.

In the gubernatorial race, 34 percent said he would vote for Perdue, 23 percent for Republican nominee Pat McCrory and six percent for Libertarian Mike Munger.

"The good Sheriff always came across as a moderate Democrat, and the voting pattern respondents think he would adopt is one that explains why North Carolina votes Republican for President election after election while continuing by and large to elect Democratic Governors," writes pollster Tom Jensen.

On a separate question 56 percent of voters had a favorable impression of Griffith, nine percent an unfavorable opinion and 35 percent no opinion.

The automated survey of 648 likely voters was taken June 26-29. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

The N.C. Military Foundation spent $49,000 on lobbying in 2007.

According to state and federal lobbying disclosure forms, the nonprofit started by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue to promote defense spending in North Carolina spent about a quarter of its consulting budget on lobbyists in its first full year.

With a tight budget, the group relies heavily on outside consultants, including two lobbyists, Jimmy Broughton and Mark Harkins. Executive Director Will Austin also does some lobbying of state government, and lobbyist John Mashburn also did some work in 2007.

The lobbyists are a bipartisan group.

Broughton is a former chief of staff to Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, Mashburn was general counsel to Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, Harkins was chief of staff to Democratic Rep. Brad Miller, and Austin was an assistant to Democratic Sen. John Edwards.

Broughton, Harkins and Mashburn work for Raleigh firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.

In 2007, the foundation reported spending $9,340 for Broughton and Austin to lobby the state government, and $40,000 for Broughton, Harkins and Mashburn to lobby the federal government.

That year, it spent about $212,000 on outside consultants.

Pat McCrory says Beverly Perdue has gone negative.

In a campaign press release, the Republican gubernatorial nominee's campaign said that Perdue was distorting his record by "conveniently omitting" his full response to a survey on repealing the lottery in its statements attacking his position.

In the response and at other times, McCrory has said that ending the lottery would be difficult since the money has already been budgeted.

Campaign Manager Richard Hudson said in a statement that Perdue, who pledged at the end of the Democratic primary not to run negative ads, was once again attacking "just like she did with Richard Moore" in the earlier part of the primary.

"These negative attacks are silly and Pat once again renews his call for the lieutenant governor to participate in a series of joint appearances in every part of the state to discuss issues," he said. "North Carolina’s voters deserve better than a candidate who hides behind negative press releases."

Update: Perdue spokesman David Kochman notes that she made the comment about his record " in a speech before approximately 500 people" and not in a press release.

"While Pat McCrory would like different audiences to hear different positions, when answering the Family Policy Council's questionnaire he checked 'YES' – that he thinks the lottery should be repealed – when he could have checked 'no' or 'undecided,'" he adds in an e-mail.

One of the nation's largest unions will target North Carolina.

In a conference call with reporters, secretary-treasurer Anna Burger said the Service Employees International Union will assist the campaigns of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and one of the gubernatorial candidates.

"Our members are incredibly excited about the electoral process," Burger said, according to a New York Times story. "We expect to be the most aggressive union on the ground and on the air across the country."

The union has set aside $75 million for the election for staff and advertising on radio, television and the Internet. Members will also participate in canvassing, phone banking and voter registration.

SEIU spent money on behalf of Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine in 2004, but neither it nor any other union has campaigned for a presidential candidate in North Carolina in recent memory since the state has been a reliable red state since 1980.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina recently affiliated with SEIU.

Correction: SEIU has not made an endorsement in the governor's race, a spokesman says.

Pat McCrory told the N.C. Family Policy Council in March that the lottery law should be repealed.

A candidate questionnaire from the conservative group asked, "Should the law that authorizes a state sponsored lottery in North Carolina be repealed?"

McCrory answered "Yes," according to the group's Web site. He then elaborated: "Repeal would be good but difficult since money has already been committed and budgeted for future years."

McCrory, the Republican nominee for governor, drew heat Wednesday for that answer. Democratic rival Beverly Perdue's campaign said rolling back the lottery would create a $350 million hole in the state's education budget, David Ingram reports.

McCrory's campaign said it is preparing a response. In another past statement about the lottery, McCrory criticized its merits but stopped short of calling for repeal.

In late April or early May, he told the N&O: "The political reality is they've already committed the money to the lottery and it's going to be very difficult to return back to the days when we weren't dependent on revenue which I think is preying primarily on the poor and the others who think there is a free ride."

There should be some limited advertising, McCrory said then. He also said he would support limiting the times television ads can be shown.

"I need to study what the ramifications are of changing it. I was dissappointed in the way it was implemented."

All but one of the five GOP candidates for governor supported repeal. Elbie Powers did not. Perdue did not answer the questionnaire, but she has supported the lottery and cast the tying vote in the N.C. Senate in favor of it.

The governor's race remains close.

According to a recent survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beverly Perdue had 42 percent, Republican rival Pat McCrory had 41 percent and Libertarian Mike Munger had five percent.

Twelve percent were undecided.

The numbers match a recent poll by the conservative Civitas Institute, which also showed a tight race.

"These races aren’t likely to see a whole lot of movement until we move into the fall campaign season," said president Dean Debnam in a statement. It’s likely to be a quiet summer."

The automated survey of 1,048 likely voters was held June 26-29. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

The N.C. Military Foundation runs on a tight budget.

The nonprofit started by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue in 2006 to promote defense spending in North Carolina spent $140,000 less than it received its first year in operation, according to federal tax forms.

Five North Carolina companies — Wachovia, Progress Energy, Duke Energy and Charlotte defense contractors General Dynamics and Parsons Corp. Commercial Technology Group — each pledged $100,000 to fund the group its first year, and it earned another $3,274 in interest on that money.

But during that time it spent only $363,914, including $212,000 for consultants, $72,718 for the salary of executive director Will Austin, $7,055 on travel, $6,111 on conferences, $3,283 for marketing and $1,131 for a Toshiba laptop.

Austin, the organization's sole full-time employee, works out of a small office on Hargett Street in Raleigh. He has a part-time administrative assistant.

He told Dome the board of directors recently authorized him to hire a deputy director, but the nonprofit will continue to use consultants on its various projects.

"We're lean on staff and infrastructure," he said. "We spend our money on consultants."

What has the N.C. Military Foundation accomplished?

Since Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue started the nonprofit to promote defense spending in North Carolina in 2006, it has worked on a number of different projects:

Helping Contractors: In November of 2007, it held a summit for 250 construction contractors with Major Gen. Bo Temple of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Rear Adm. Chris Mossey of the Naval Facilities Atlantic to learn about future base expansions.

Introducing Australians: In December of 2007, it brought two members of the Australian embassy to a luncheon with 70 business leaders in Raleigh to learn about future business opportunities under a pending defense treaty.

Promoting Veterans: In 2008, the foundation worked with the N.C. Military Business Center to create a database for employers considering hiring former military personnel for civilian jobs and explain military job skills.

Executive Director Will Austin said the foundation's method is to educate business and military leaders about ways to make the state more military friendly.

"We're trying to bring people together," he said.