On whether people should care about McCrory’s decision not to release more tax returns or the clients of his employer, a Charlotte law firm:

Dalton: “It should be something they care about. Who are you really going to represent? Are you going to represent special interests, or the working families out there in North Carolina? … I’m going to work for and fight for the working people, the senior citizens, the middle class. He has shown (that) he’s going to take the side of special interests.”

McCrory: “It’s just amazing, this attack on the private sector. I’m proud to be employed by a great law firm, a law firm in which he recently just wrote to get donations for his campaign. I have 34 years of business experience with Duke Energy Co., which I’m very proud of. I was employed with them the whole time I was mayor, and never was there a question of ethical indiscretion.”

On racially charged ads by Dalton’s campaign:

Dalton: “Those are not racially motivated ads. Those are leaders in the African-American community that said, ‘We have concerns about this, we do not think (McCrory) understands our experience.’ … He went to the fair but did not come to the (NAACP convention). They found his policies offensive, also. His tax plan has an $11 billion hole in it. That means 80 percent of North Carolinians are going to pay more taxes.”

McCrory: “Well, the ad said much more than what Mr. Dalton actually is saying but I'm not going to dwell on that ad. I was very pleased to spend that day (of the NAACP convention) with Steve Troxler, our commissioner of agricultural because agriculture is such an important part of our economy and I think a very important part to help North Carolina get out of this very, very deep recession."

On tax policy:

Dalton: McCrory “said he wants to eliminate corporate income tax and reduce personal income tax. If he does everything he has talked about, that takes $11 billion. He says he would make it up in consumption taxes. Those are generally seen to be sales tax and tax on services. … If you do that on the sales tax, it’s 192 percent increase.”

McCrory: “Dalton keeps repeating what he’s also saying in some very strongly negative ads against me. Major media outlets have said those are inaccurate.”

On repealing the Racial Justice Act

McCrory: “About 98 percent of our district attorneys, both Republicans and Democrats, said it was one of the worst pieces of legislation we’ve ever seen in the criminal justice system in the state of North Carolina. This is preventing people who actually killed police officers from getting the sentence jurors said they deserve. … It’s not just African-Americans using the racial justice act to delay the death penalty, it’s everyone, white, black, anything. And that shows the joke that it’s become, and it’s just a delay tactic, which is costing the taxpayers money.”

Dalton: “To call that a joke shows why the African-American community is upset. … I support the death penalty, but when you have the death penalty, you need to make sure it’s only for the most heinous of crimes and not because of someone’s skin color.”

Staff writer Austin Baird