Four out of five of the candidates for governor in 2008 are wealthy.
Republicans Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham and state Sen. Fred Smith as well as Democrats Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and state Treasurer Richard Moore are millionaires.
Only former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a Republican, is not wealthy.
That contrasts with recent governors, Mike Easley, Jim Hunt, Jim Martin and Jim Holshouser, who were largely middle class when they were elected.
Democratic consultant Gary Pearce said that money is a shortcut:
"You can buy immediately what someone like Jim Hunt, Terry Sanford and Jim Martin had to build over years and years of work to put themselves in a place to run and raise money," Pearce said. "It's not just North Carolina. It's happening everywhere. It's harder for a person who doesn't have a lot of wealth to get into the game." (N&O)
