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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. 

North Carolina Democrats could be forgiven if they were silently humming the Kenny Rogers standard, ''you picked a fine time to leave me Lucille" as they gathered in Greensboro today in the first post-Perdue announcement campaign event, Rob Christensen reports.

Gov Bev Perdue's surprise announcement last week that she would not seek re-election left the Democratic Party scrambling to find a nominee, creating a 100-day sprint to May 8th primary -- something that is highly unusual if not unprecedented in recent decades in North Carolina Democratic politics.

Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton was the first to jump in Thursday just hours after Perdue's announcement, and he was joined Saturday by state Rep. Bill Faison who announced his candidacy in Greensboro.

Gov. Bev Perdue does not have to worry about a threat in a Democratic primary, according to a new poll.

Perdue would defeat state Rep. Bill Faison by a 62-18 margin in a primary, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic leaning firm based in Raleigh.

She has strong support in every segment in the party, the poll found, including 62 percent among those who consider themselves very liberal, 72 percent among those who are somewhat liberal, 61 percent among moderates, 59 percent among women, 67 percent among women, 58 percent among men,  68 percent among blacks, 54 percent with young voters, and 68 percent with seniors.

While Perdue trails likely Republican challenger Pat McCrory by a 47-42 percent margin, some of the other Democrats whose names have been bandied about as potential Perdue alternatives do not do any better.

Faison would start a race with McCrory down 45-30, while Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton would start a McCrory race down 46-32, according to the poll.

Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper would start a race with McCrory trailing by three points, 42-39, while former University of North Carolina president Erskine Bowles would start a race with McCrory tied at 42 percent.

The survey of 760 voters, including 353 Democratic voters, was conducted Sept. 30 to Oct. 3. The margin of error for the general election mandates is 3.6 percent and the margin of error for Democratic primary match-ups is plus or minus 5.2 percent.