Steve Forbes, the former GOP presidential candidate and the publisher of Forbes Magazine, will headline the N.C. GOP's Hall of Fame Dinner in Raleigh later this month.

He will join Doug Hoffman, the former conservative congressional candidate from New York, at the dinner to be held November 21st at the North Raleigh Hilton, Rob Christensen reports.

Forbes has a new book out this month called "How Capitalism Will Save Us." He twice ran for president in 1996 and 2000.

The N.C. Republican Party is bringing in Doug Hoffman, the defeated conservative New York congressional candidate who helped spark a national debate about the party's future, to speak at a political fund raiser in Raleigh later this month.

State GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer said that Hoffman would be a good fit for Tar Heel Republicans, Rob Christensen reports.

"His candidacy in New York inspired conservatives across the country, and he will reach out to North Carolina conservatives to help us reclaim our government," Fetzer said in a statement.

Hoffman has been part of a national debate about what should be the party's stance toward moderates. The GOP leadership had nominated Dede Scozzafava for a U.S. House vacancy after President Barack Obama named Republican Congressman John McHugh as Army Secretary.

But her conservative credentials were criticized her because she favored abortion rights and same sex marriage. Hoffman, a local businessman, ran as a conservative party candidate, picking up the endorsement of such conservative luminaries as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and TV personality Glenn Beck.

Scozzafava ended up withdrawing from the race and throwing her support to Democrat Bill Owens who won a congressional seat that had been in Republican hands for 100 years.

The N.C. Republican Party has long been a conservative party associated with the late Jesse Helms, and Fetzer said he had personally supported the Hoffman candidacy.

Hoffman will speak at the party's Hall of Fame Dinner on November 21 at the North Raleigh Hilton.