A more seasoned McCrory preps for 2nd NC gov's bid

WILMINGTON, NC (By GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press) - Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, who arrived on the political stage in 1989 as a relatively unknown city council candidate, lamented to a crowd recently about how he's about to reach a milestone - he turns 55 this month.

"I'm qualifying for discount movies," McCrory quipped to about 125 women as he gave a luncheon talk at a riverfront Wilmington hotel. "It's very disturbing - very disturbing - to me."

Like his physical age, McCrory is no longer the newcomer to statewide North Carolina politics. Already tested in a bruising campaign against Democrat Beverly Perdue in 2008 that ended with her narrow victory, the Republican has remained in the political spotlight while preparing for what's now an all-but-certain repeat bid for governor.