From the Charlotte Observer – North Carolina’s candidates for governor, Walter Dalton and Pat McCrory, engaged in a sharp-edged televised debate Wednesday, offering barbed exchanges on taxes, businesses, fracking, race and voter ID that reflected the state’s political polarization.

Dalton, the Democratic lieutenant governor, most often was in the role of the aggressor, portraying McCrory as someone who would be more responsive to the interests of the well-to-do, whether it came to taxes or big oil companies.

McCrory portrayed himself as the reformer who would make much needed changes in the state, while painting Dalton as part of a failed “good ol’ boy and good ol’ girl system” that had lead to high unemployment and scandal in government.

The hourlong face-off was the first of three statewide televised debates. It was sponsored by the N.C. Association of Broadcasters Educational Foundation and was held at the studios of UNC-TV.