Nine statewide candidates will accept public financing in their campaigns.

At a press conference held by N.C. Voters for Clean Elections outside the state Capitol today, nearly all of the three Republicans and six Democrats said that the financing program will make them less reliant on special interests.

The group includes two incumbents, Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson and Republican state Auditor Les Merritt. It also includes insurance commissioner candidate Wayne Goodwin, who said his 2004 campaign for labor commissioner was eye-opening.

"While candidates used to visit all the county seats across this great state and visit every courthouse sheriff and stop in to enjoy an RC Cola at a country store or go to umpteen barbecue rallies around the state, in 2004 I learned how campaigning had succumbed to the money chase," he said.

He said he spent up to eight hours a day, six days a week, calling donors.

The other participants include superintendent candidates Eddie Davis and Eric H. Smith, auditor candidates Beth Wood and Fred Aikens and insurance commissioner candidates John Odom and David Smith.

David Smith did not attend the rally due to a family emergency.

Beth Wood has her zinger down for the fall election.

The candidate for the Democratic nomination for state auditor has some primary competition in Fred Aikens, but at the Young Democrats convention she tried out a line to use against incumbent Republican Les Merritt.

"The citizens of North Carolina don't need to settle for Les," she said.

Fred Aikens says he would increase fiscal accountability as state auditor.

A fiscal analyst for the legislature from 1978 to 1993, he later served as the deputy secretary for the state departments of Transportation and Correction. He said he wanted to clean up corruption in Raleigh.

"You've seen agencies that haven't spent taxpayer's money the way they should and I want to help these agencies be more accountable," Aikens told Dome.

He plans to do this by increasing resources and cooperation between agencies, identifying weaknesses before they becomes crises.

Aikens said he joined the Legislative Black Caucus Foundation in 2007, amid criticism that it gave college scholarships to relatives of legislators.

"I wanted to be a part of helping them get on the right track and I contributed pretty well to that effort," he said.

Fred Aikens will run for the Democratic nomination for state auditor.

Aikens, 57, is a retired state deputy of corrections and transportation and a retired colonel for the U.S. Army and N.C. National Guard. He served in Kuwait in 2003.

He's also been on numerous government councils and local nonprofits, including a stint chairing the State Government Information Technology Council.

If he wins the primary, Aikens plans to participate in a pilot program for public financing of the race. He said he hopes to increase accountability and reduce the focus of state government on campaign donors.

"I think we have seen enough scandal in Raleigh recently," he said in a statement. "It's time to clean up the mess."

Aikens will face Beth Wood in the primary. Incumbent Republican Les Merritt is seeking re-election.