The gubernatorial race remains neck and neck.

According to a recent poll by the conservative Civitas Institute, Democratic candidate Beverly Perdue had 43 percent support, Republican Pat McCrory 41 percent and Libertarian Mike Munger three percent.

Thirteeen percent were undecided.

"Despite the initial round of ads critical of McCrory, he has held his support steady and, in fact, closed the gap on Perdue by one point," said executive director Francis DeLuca. 

The live survey of 600 registered voters was conducted Aug. 14-17 by TelOpinion Research of Alexandria, Va. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

Beverly Perdue claims membership in North Carolina’s farming community. Pat McCrory doesn’t.

On Monday, both major candidates for governor spoke to the 38th annual banquet of the N.C. Agribusiness Council and promised support for the agriculture industry, reports David Ingram.

“I’m not going to pretend I’m one of you, because I’m not and neither is my opponent,” said McCrory, a Republican and mayor of Charlotte. But, he added, he will listen to the industry if he’s governor and work with it because its workers “feed me at least three times a day.”

Perdue, a Democrat and lieutenant governor, said she represented farmers in the New Bern area while in the legislature and sat on agriculture committees.

“I actually consider myself part of the agriculture community in North Carolina,” she said. “I’m not a Johnny-come-lately to rural North Carolina, or to agriculture and agribusiness.”

Perdue dropped two names of particular importance to rural parts of the state: the late Jim Graham, a former agriculture commissioner, and Billy Ray Hall of the N.C. Rural Center.

Neither candidate has worked in agriculture. McCrory spent 29 years with Charlotte-based Duke Energy – which sponsored three tables at Monday’s banquet – while Perdue worked in education and health care administration.

Libertarian candidate Mike Munger did not attend the banquet. He is a political scientist, though he does have ties to agribusiness through his sale of timber from land in Chatham County.

Another recent poll shows Beverly Perdue ahead.

The survey by Rasmussen Reports shows the Democratic gubernatorial candidate with 51 percent and Republican opponent Pat McCrory with 45 percent when leaners are included.

Libertarian Mike Munger was not included in the poll. 

After a round of advertising attacking McCrory, Rasmussen and Public Policy Polling show her with a wider lead, although SurveyUSA does not.

The survey of 700 likely voters was conducted on Wednesday, Aug. 13. It has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

As noted previously, Wednesday polls in North Carolina tend to undercount religious voters. 

The governor's race remains close.

In a recent poll by SurveyUSA, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue had 47 percent, Republican Pat McCrory had 44 percent and Libertarian Mike Munger had five percent.

Five percent were undecided.

"Perdue's slight advantage is not significant, at this hour. The contest is fluid. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released four weeks ago, Perdue is flat, McCrory is down 2," the pollsters write.

The survey of 655 likely voters was conducted Aug. 9-11. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. 

While the move today to bar illegal immigrants from North Carolina community colleges won praise from groups like Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, it drew a rebuke from the left for Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue.

Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor, made the motion to ban illegal immigrants from community colleges while a study is being done on the issue.

The motion, approved by the State Board of Community Colleges, was a reversal from Thursday, when officials indicated they were inclined to admit illegal immigrants pending the outcome of the study.

That drew the following response to Perdue from James Protzman at BlueNC:

I'm sure you and your staff agonized about whether to sell out poor brown people for political advantage, but agony or not, you came down on the wrong side of an important moral issue. Which makes your campaign irrelevant to me. Don't bother calling. Don't bother writing. Don't bother me at all. You don't need progressives, and progressives don't need you. I'm heading for Mike Munger.

The three gubernatorial candidates say they're healthy.

In response to a request from two state newspapers, Republican Pat McCrory, Libertarian Mike Munger and Democrat Beverly Perdue say they are in excellent health and have only minor medical concerns.

Munger agreed to provide information in response to a request for the candidates' tax returns. He paid his federal income tax in full and gave about 2 percent of his income to charity in 2006.

A letter from Perdue's doctor said she has high blood pressure and high cholesterol. She smoked on and off until 2003, when she began working with teen anti-tobacco programs.

McCrory had successful knee surgery in 1996 and has normal blood pressure.

Munger had high blood pressure, which he treats with a prescription medication, and a history of sports-related injuries. (N&O) 

Beverly Perdue has opened up a wider lead.

According to a recent survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee had 46 percent support, Republican Pat McCrory had 37 percent and Libertarian Mike Munger had six percent.

Eleven percent were undecided.

Perdue's support was higher than in previous polls by the firm and others, where she has barely edged McCrory. Pollsters said that could be due to former rival Richard Moore's recent endorsement.

"Some of Richard Moore’s former supporters who may have contemplated crossing over to support McCrory appear to be heading back toward the Democratic camp," said president Dean Debnam.

The autoamted survey of 823 likely voters was taken July 23-27. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Mike Munger will be at a gubernatorial debate after all.

The Libertarian nominee has been invited by WSOC-TV and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg League of Women Voters to participate in a live televised debate in October.

Despite helping gather thousands of signatures to get the Libertarian Party recognized and garnering between two and five percent in polls, Munger has not been invited to the four other debates agreed to by Democrat Beverly Perdue and Republican Pat McCrory.

Munger is a Duke University professor best known for his comical critiques of the other candidates and their positions.

The debate is scheduled for Oct. 15. It is the last scheduled debate agreed to by the other two campaigns.

In mid-March, Munger said that he had been asked to appear at the debate, but he did not receive an official invitation until this week.

Pollsters might consider saving their money for the next few weeks.

Polling in the gubernatorial race is basically stagnant, with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beverly Perdue having a slight lead (but still within the margin of error) over Republican Pat McCrory in every poll since the May 6 primary.

Even the addition of Libertarian Mike Munger to the polling barely moved the needle.

Here are the numbers:

July 14-16: Perdue 43, McCrory 40, Munger 2
July 12-14: Perdue 47, McCrory 46, Munger 3
June 26-29: Perdue 42, McCrory 41, Munger 5
June 11-13: Perdue 43, McCrory 41, Munger 2
May 28-29: Perdue 43, McCrory 39, Munger 4
May 14-17: Perdue 43, McCrory 42
May 8-9: Perdue 45, McCrory 45

The bottom line: Voters are not paying much attention to the race this summer, with few ads on the air and the summer sun as an added distraction.

The race remains close. Though Perdue has a lead, it's never been more than four percentage points and McCrory has been within striking distance.

The other variations are likely due more to differences in polling methodology than actual changes in the race.

The gubernatorial race remains very close.

According to a recent survey by the conservative Civitas Institute, Democratic nominee Beverly Perdue received 43 percent support, Republican Pat McCrory received 40 percent, and Libertarian Mike Munger received two percent. Fourteen percent were undecided.

"We see this race continue to be within the margin of error for the poll, making it a statistical dead heat,” said Executive Director Francis DeLuca.

Polling numbers in the race remain stagnant since the May 6 primary, with Perdue barely edging McCrory in recent polls by Survey USA and the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.

DeLuca said McCrory has a huge lead in the Charlotte area and a slim lead in the mountains, while Perdue leads the eastern part of the state, the Triangle and the Triad.

The live-caller poll of 600 likely voters was conducted July 14-16 by TelOpinion Research of Alexandria, Va. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.