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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.