Vinroot, whom the polls show to be best-known of the Republican hopefuls, was peppered with questions about why he didn't beat Democrat Mike Easley in 2000.

Although the seven GOP gubernatorial candidates have met in several forums across the state in recent months, Wednesday's gathering was both the highest-profile and the feistiest in the run-up to the July 20 primary. The forum, sponsored by the Wake, Durham and Orange County Republican parties, attracted 260 people to the Embassy Suites hotel in Cary.

Few major policy differences have emerged so far. The contenders all argue that the state's business climate has declined under Democratic rule and that cutting the 6.9 percent corporate income- tax rate and reducing governmental regulation are needed to make North Carolina more business-friendly. All are opposed to same-sex marriage, and all portray Easley as an inactive governor.

As in the previous forums, Republicans directed most of their criticism at Easley, and much of the debate was about which candidate had the best chance of unseating him.

"Let's not kid ourselves," said state Sen. Patrick Ballantine of Wilmington. "It's not going to be easy to beat Easley."

Vinroot, who ran for governor in 1996 and 2000, is by far the best-known Republican in the field -- a point he readily acknowledged. "I'm far ahead, and I intend to stay there," he said.

But three candidates -- Ballantine, former party Chairman Bill Cobey of Durham County and Southern Pines insurance agent George Little -- repeatedly questioned whether Vinroot was the party's best hope.

Cobey wanted to know why Vinroot won 46 percent of the vote in 2000 while George W. Bush carried the state in the presidential elections with 56 percent of the vote.

Vinroot said he believed he would have defeated Easley in 2000 if the election had taken place two weeks earlier. But he said his own prospects declined as Bush's did. Vinroot said state history shows that Republican governors are elected only when there are strong presidential coattails.

One candidate, Davie County Commissioner Dan Barrett, cautioned Republicans to avoid "the scorched earth" approach in the primary.

Though there was general agreement on most issues, candidates disagreed on whether the legislature should have awarded a $126 million tax incentive to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to cement the move of 800 jobs from Kentucky and Atlanta to Winston-Salem.

Ballantine said he voted in the Senate for the plan in December because it meant jobs for North Carolina. "It's easy to throw stones," he said. "But we need to grow the economy."

Cobey and Vinroot strongly disagreed, saying the state got a bad deal for the money -- especially since RJR had recently cut 1,700 jobs.

Candidates gave different reasons on why they would be the strongest challenger to Easley.

* Vinroot touted his experience of shrinking Charlotte's municipal government as its part-time mayor. He said he has the know-how to find cost savings in state government. He also said that the race was about character, and he related his own background of volunteering to serve in Vietnam and serving as a Sunday school teacher.

* Cobey, a former congressman, argued that he has the broadest government and political experience of any of the candidates. Cobey is also the candidate who is appealing most directly to social conservatives by putting more emphasis on contentious issues such as opposition to abortion and to government sanctioning of same-sex relationships. He touted his endorsement by former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.

* Ballantine, the state Senate Republican leader, is positioning himself as someone who can bring new ideas. Ballantine has racked up the most endorsements from elected leaders such as legislators and sheriffs.

* Little, a longtime GOP fund-raiser and the only businessman in the race, portrayed himself as the candidate best equipped to recruit and promote industry and as a pragmatist who can work across party lines and attract independent Democratic voters.

* Fern Shubert, a state senator from Union County and a CPA, is campaigning as both someone knowledgeable about state finances and the candidate most concerned about the effects of Hispanic immigration into the state.  [That's a typical Christensen lie, buried in the middle of a long article and exactly the opposite of the truth.  What Shubert actually said was that the problem is with illegal immigration, and it has nothing to do with ethnicity.  But Rob Christensen can never resist the opportunity to smear a Republican as "racist."  An N&O editor told me, testily, that they'd run a retraction/correction.  But I've not been able to find it on their web site. -DB]

* Barrett, a corporate attorney, is campaigning as the political outsider who has not been part of the problems in Raleigh. He campaigns as a grassroots candidate not tied to special interests.

* Timothy Cook, a Guilford County chemist, is the least-known of the candidates. But he prompted one of the biggest laughs when he portrayed Easley as a do-nothing governor.

"I wonder where he is tonight," Cook said. "Maybe he's in Virginia playing the lottery."