North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory says job creation will be his top priority if elected.

In a new statewide television ad released Thursday, McCrory says
state government needs to give North Carolinians more
opportunities. He said that can be done by drilling for oil off the North
Carolina coast and lowering the state's high school dropout rate.

Democratic candidate Beverly Perdue responded with a television
ad echoing her previous attack on McCrory for supporting private
school vouchers. In the spot, Perdue's campaign claims McCrory would have to slash public education or raise taxes to pay for the voucher program.

The new ad and another spot explaining Perdue's biography are
running statewide.