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North Carolina’s two candidates for governor began the final week of the campaign a study in contrasts.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, the state’s lieutenant governor, was on the attack and raising money, hoping a final surge would allow him to close what the polls suggest is a wide gap with his GOP opponent. Meanwhile, a buoyant Republican Pat McCrory, the former Charlotte mayor, hit a diner and a local GOP headquarters and warned his supporters against overconfidence. Full story here.

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--Gov. Bev Perdue is sitting on $1.2 million as Democrat Walter Dalton faces a 6-to-1 cash deficit to Republican Pat McCrory

A look inside the campaign finance reports filed this week shows why Republican Pat McCrory is dominating the money race: Walter Dalton started the general election with nothing in the bank.

The Democratic candidate's primary contest with Bob Etheridge and Bill Faison cost him just about everything in his campaign account. Dalton entered 2012 with $590,000 in the bank and raised $887,000 in the primary. But he spent roughly $1.5 million to win his party's nomination.

At the end, Dalton's campaign spent what it took to win, including about $670,000 for a television commercial and another approximately $70,000 for direct mailings to voters. In the same amount of time, he raised just $230,000.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is headlining a fundraiser for Pat McCrory's gubernatorial bid this afternoon in Raleigh, the latest in a string of GOP heavyweights to visit North Carolina to help the former Charlotte mayor.

The fundraising invite is a who's-who list of big names. Take a look below.

Pat McCrory's campaign reports it raised more than $1 million since the start of the year -- and the fundraising period is still incomplete.

McCrory, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, started the year with $2 million in the bank. So his roughly $3 million total (minus expenses) gives him a huge advantage against his Democratic rivals, who are trying to raise cash to beat each other in the May 8 primary.

Pat McCrory continues his big fundraising push, attracting another major GOP name to an event next month in Durham.

Former GOP presidential candidate Steve Forbes will headline the March 3 event at the Washington Duke Inn. The cheapest ticket costs $100 with sponsors paying $4,000 and host at $1,000. Among the co-sponsors and hosts: C.T. Moorman, Robert and Barry Taylor, Nick Tennyson, Chris Mumma and Bill Cobey.

Other Republicans who previously helped McCrory raise money: Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley.