Two of the three candidates for the Democratic nomination for Governor met in Greenville tonight during the WITN-TV/Inner Banks Media Debate at ECU.

Current state Treasurer Richard Moore, and retired Colonel Dennis Nielsen both agreed that new jobs remains a critical need for Eastern Carolina.

Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue was invited to the debate, but said scheduling conflicts prevented her from attending.

The debate was broadcast live in WITN-TV and Inner Banks' radio stations, as well as streamed live in witntv.com.

Local issues dominated the debate. On the question of jobs, Moore said it would be a bad idea to stop funding of Kinston's Global TransPark. Moore says a different approach needs to be taken toward marketing the project. Nielsen told the audience that if it doesn't work, don't keep funding the TransPark. He said a lack of leadership in Raleigh is why it's not working.

On transportation, Moore said four-laning Highway 17 should be a bigger priority--diverting some traffic off Interstate 95. Neilsen says he opposes the idea of toll roads in North Carolina, saying it would hurt people in those communities who have to drive those highways.

Both candidates agree that the Navy should not bring it's controversial outlying landing field to North Carolina if people do not want it. Dennis Nielsen says the noise will be deafening, and he's opposed to the federal government acquiring more of people's property. Moore says maybe if the state got some of the good from the military, then the OLF might be good. But, Moore says the OLF should not come anywhere to North Carolina where people don't want it.

Four Republicans Debate Second Hour

The second hour of the debate was given to the four Republican candidates for governor.

One topic all four agreed on, was to clean up state government. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory questioned where Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue are the latest ethical breakdowns. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr says state workers should not trash e-mails you don't want the media to get a hold of. State Senator Fred Smith says making government honest is the number one thing he hears when meeting voters, and attorney Bill Graham says we're not going to fix the problem by electing the same old crowd.

On Global TransPark funding, three of the candidates felt state funding needs to stop. Graham called the GTP a white elephant, McCrory suggested trying to sell it to the private sector and Orr says there are many other critical investments the state should use the money for. Only Smith said the state should protect and defend what is there.

And all four Republican candidates agreed more needs to be done to keep corruption out of state government.

Primary election day in North Carolina is May 6th.