AP Easley does it

OVER the past three decades, the Republican ticket has carried North Carolina in every presidential election except one—in 1976, when Jimmy Carter of neighbouring Georgia won. In that same period, however, Jim Hunt, a Democrat, won four elections for governor. He lost a political race only once, in 1984, when Jesse Helms beat him for a seat in the Senate. His political strength has been a bulwark for his party against a rising tide of Republicanism, and has put him on the (rather long) shortlist of potential running-mates for Al Gore.

Under the state constitution, Mr Hunt cannot seek a third consecutive term as governor this year. His absence from the ballot touched off spirited races for both the Democratic and Republican nominations. In the primaries on May 2nd, Republican voters chose Richard Vinroot, a lanky one-time college-basketball player and former mayor of Charlotte, as their nominee. After losing the Republican nomination four years ago as a relatively moderate Republican, Mr Vinroot hired a former Helms strategist to recast his image. He emerged as a more aggressive and right-leaning candidate, defeating two veteran state legislators in a campaign in which the candidates scrambled to prove who was most ardently against abortion and gambling.

Mr Vinroot apologised for his “mistake” in having, as mayor, cut the ribbon to open a Planned Parenthood facility in Charlotte. Apparently, he didn't know that some clinics run by the non-profit agency performed abortions. He said he would restrain the growth of state government, promised not to raise taxes and advocated voucher programmes to help pupils attend private schools. He also proclaimed his opposition to a state-run lottery, though he indicated that he would not object to a referendum on the issue.

Democrats, meanwhile, chose Michael Easley as their nominee. The telegenic attorney-general with a flair for political creativity scored a landslide victory over the lieutenant-governor, Dennis Wicker. Both candidates promised to build on the education reforms of Mr Hunt (Mr Easley, in particular, wants a state lottery to help pay for education), and to attack the fouling of air and water by industrial pig farms scattered across the state's coastal plain.

As a prosecutor in a coastal district in the 1980s, Mr Easley earned a reputation as a crime-fighter unafraid to take on illegal drug merchants and corruption in public office. During his eight years as attorney-general, he raised his visibility by appearing in TV commercials warning consumers against fraudulent practices. North Carolina is America's largest tobacco-growing state, but, even so, Mr Easley helped negotiate the settlement that required cigarette manufacturers to pay billions to state governments. He was also behind the scheme to put about $2 billion of North Carolina's take from the tobacco settlement into a charitable foundation to rebuild rural communities.

In the November elections, there is likely to be some interplay between the presidential contest and the governor's race. Recent history suggests that George W. Bush, the Republican, starts with an advantage in North Carolina, but the Gore campaign has signalled that it plans to compete in the state. Even if Mr Gore fails to win there, the fact that he is campaigning will force the Bush campaign to expend time and money—and it will give the Democrats a stronger chance of holding the governor's office.