Moore, Perdue not at Wilmington debate

WILMINGTON — Thursday night’s governor’s forum at Cape Fear was a lively give-and-take — at least as far as the republicans went.

Candidates Bill Graham, Pat McCrory, Bob Orr and Fred Smith fielded questions from a panel and the public. Topics ran the gamut: corruption in Raleigh, mental health, roads, tax rates.

On the Democratic side Col. Dennis Nielsen was the lone candidate. Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue were represented by empty chairs.

Moore’s campaign told us he had a fundraiser to attend.

After repeated communication with Perdue’s office we requested written communication as to why Perdue would not be able to attend. Perdue’s campaign sent us correspondence via email on April 10 stating that Perdue would not be able to attend the forum due to time constraints.