Democrats are scrambling to find an electable candidate with name recognition after Gov. Bev Perdue announced in January that she would not seek re-election.
On Thursday, Erskin Bowles, a former UNC System president and Bill Clinton's former chief of staff, said he would not run for governor. However, just hours later, former Congressman Bob Etheridge announced he would seek the democratic nomination.
"This election is about leadership. It's about moving forward -- not moving backward," Etheridge said in a statement. "I will be talking about our future and our commitment to move North Carolina forward. If we want a 21st century economy, we must have 21st century schools."
A former state superintendent of North Carolina Public Schools, Etheridge says his life's work has been about improving public education.
"As we move forward, we must ensure we are making the key investments in public education, community colleges and the university system," Etheridge said.
Another high-level democrat weighing his options, Congressman Brad Miller says he will make a decision whether to run this weekend.
"I think I need to think about it real hard now," Miller said. "I've had the luxury of everything frozen in place until Erskine decided, and now I need to make a decision."
With the clock ticking, democratic strategists say it's late to jump in the primary.
"Moving forward it gets tougher," strategist Andrew Whalen said. "The timeline is just so short, very compressed, you don't have a lot of time to get infrastructure in place and move it across the state."
Miller says he can work quickly, and political action groups like Move On and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee have already reached out to the congressman.
"I think I would begin with a very serious base of support," Miller said. "It would be a volunteer base and it would be a financial base and a base of votes."
Last week, the same day Perdue bowed out of a second run, Lt. Governor Walter Dalton announced his bid. Over the weekend, Rep. Bill Faison made his bid official.
Other politicians still on the fence include Congressman Mike McIntyre, former State Treasurer Richard Moore and State Senator Dan Blue.
After the November 2010 election, Etheridge conceded to republican newcomer Renee Ellmers for the District-2 seat. Etheridge requested a recount after the election found they were separated by less than 1 percent of all votes.
Etheridge served 13 years in Congress.
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