RALEIGH - Triangle political junkies got their first taste of this season's races Thursday night as the Triangle Community Coalition held its fifth annual Political Pig Pickin'.

The event, at Brier Creek Country Club in North Raleigh, was a chance for candidates from Wake, Durham, Orange and Chatham counties to introduce themselves to an audience made up largely of development and real estate interests.

The event was sponsored by, among others, Toll Brothers, Centex Homes and the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County.

The format of the pickin' was a political version of speed-dating. Candidates had two minutes to give a stump speech, and any person who talked longer than the allotted time was interrupted by a man hitting a giant gong. The two-minute rule applied to every candidate no matter how well-known -- Durham Mayor Bill Bell was gonged.

Despite the restrictive ground rules, dozens of candidates showed up to tell bad jokes ("at-large does not mean I just got out of jail"), espouse how much they love the Triangle and be serenaded by a barbershop quartet.

As might have been expected given the event sponsors, many candidates offered a pro-growth platform that stressed no new taxes, impact fees or transfer fees.

At least two candidates from different municipalities said their respective cities had a spending problem, not a revenue problem. State Rep. Nelson Dollar, a Cary Republican who attended the event to speak on behalf of Cary Mayor Ernie McAlister, took time out to remind the crowd that he voted against a proposed real estate transfer tax during the last legislative session.

The makeup of the crowd wasn't lost on candidates such as Helen Tart, a self-described progressive Democrat who is running for an at-large seat on the Raleigh City Council.

"I don't really think I've got much of a chance in this room," Tart said.

For candidates from outside Wake County, taking the stage must have been a bit like being a member of a visiting rock band.

"Any you guys out there from Carrboro?" asked Chuck Morton, who is running for mayor of Carrboro.