Political corruption surrounding one of North Carolina's most powerful Democrats, House Speaker Jim Black, seemed a winning issue for Republicans looking to take control of the House in this year's election.

State and federal investigations -- and indictments of Black's associates -- have snapped at the speaker's heels for a year. "House for Sale" signs, implying that Black acted on legislation to help big donors, popped up on lawns.

For a time, it seemed enough to help Republicans win the four additional seats they need to control the 120-member House. That would enable them to shift the priorities in a state government that, except for a two-year period when Black shared the top House job with a Republican, has been under Democratic control for the past eight years.

But political operatives of both parties say Black doesn't seem to be the drag on Democratic candidates that Republicans had hoped for. Black's face has popped up in some unexpected places, such as a coastal Senate district, but it has been hard for Republicans to tie Black to individual candidates.

"Jim Black is an issue. He's not a silver-bullet issue," said Bill Peaslee, chief of staff for the state GOP. "It doesn't seem to have resonated to the extent that we would like."

Rep. Mitch Gillespie of McDowell County, a member of the House Republican leadership team, said it is hard to know whether his colleagues will be cheering or frowning on election night.

The GOP could win a one- or two-seat House majority, he said, or the party could slip a few notches. Republicans want a majority in the legislature so they can control what issues get high priority.

While Democrats tout their spending on education, Republicans paint them as free spenders who don't demand fiscal accountability from state agencies. Republican legislators have tried to push social issues, such as a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman, but the Democrats have kept such bills from even getting a hearing. A majority of Republican legislators opposed the state lottery, which passed last year when Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate.

Will GOP gain or lose?

Things can change quickly in politics, and Election Day is still more than two weeks away. But instead of talking about what they would do with a controlling majority in the House, Republicans are fighting to keep the 57 seats they have.

"Our caucus is in a rebuilding mode," Gillespie said. "If we don't [take control] this time, we'll do it in '08."

The Republicans' best hope might be to pick up a seat or two in the Senate, where Democrats have a 29-21 edge.

In recent elections, North Carolina Republicans have not kept pace with Democrats in raising money for legislative candidates. Infighting in Republican ranks has hampered organizational efforts and recruiting of candidates. Fraud and bribery convictions in Washington and discontent with the Iraq war appear to be setting a foundation for a big Democratic year nationwide.

"This fall, it looks like Democrats have a greater likelihood of keeping power than Republicans have of seizing power," said John N. Davis, executive director of NCFREE, a business-funded group that monitors state politics.

Legislative candidates cannot count on a presidential or U.S. Senate contest to excite voters. Candidates and their parties must work harder to get voters to the polls in districts that don't have attention-grabbing congressional races or local ballot questions.

Ed Book, a former journalist who runs a Beaufort cafe, said his friends don't talk much about local candidates even though Carteret County has a heated state Senate race.

"The local race is not clicking with them," Book said.

Although all 170 legislative seats are up for election, 65 are already filled by candidates running unopposed. Many districts where voters have a choice are shaped to give either the Democratic or the Republican candidate a clear advantage.

That reduces the major fights for voters to about a dozen House districts and roughly four of 50 Senate districts.

Landscape changes

The legislative campaigns have some common themes: illegal immigration, education, health care and state spending. But in battleground districts, the outcome will likely be determined by other matters: population growth resulting in new voters, turnout and political money.

In Wake County, population growth has transformed a House district that was once a sure thing for Republicans into a tossup. Veteran Rep. Russell Capps, a Raleigh Republican, is defending his seat against a strong challenge from Democrat Ty Harrell, a fundraiser for Duke University. New Triangle voters, not raised in the South, don't necessarily identify with traditional Bible-belt Republican issues, Davis said.

Republicans outnumber Democrats in the district, but about 30 percent of voters are unaffiliated.

"Even registered Republicans, they are not as conservative as a Russell Capps Republican," Davis said. "It's the new urban voter."

Harrell has amassed a volunteer corps that knocks on doors and makes telephone calls. He is talking to voters wherever he can find them.

"I'm not going to let off the gas until the last precincts are reporting," Harrell said.

Capps, who has won the district handily in past years, spent most of last week on vacation with his family and scheduled no campaign events.

Capps is confident he will win. He has volunteers working for him, and his campaign plans a round of mail.

A $970 million school bond referendum will likely draw Wake voters to the polls. Significant turnout by unaffiliated voters could give Harrell an edge.

"If turnout is low, we win," Capps said.

Will voters tune in?

In the Asheville area, where a state House seat is opening up, Doug Jones, a Democrat, is hoping high turnout and interest in a stiff challenge to Republican U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor will lift him to victory. Jones, a schoolteacher, is running against Republican Charles Thomas.

Jones, who lost a bid for the seat two years ago, said the voters' mood is working against Republicans and Taylor. He hopes that will boost his candidacy.

But Jones has a hill to climb in a district that likes Republican candidates. President Bush won the district in 2004 with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Thomas, who operates a flight school, expects some coattail effect in his race. But he thinks the seat will stay in Republican hands. He said the biggest challenge has been getting heard over the noisy congressional contest.

"I don't think people are really tuned in to the state races," Thomas said.

Making Black an issue

Black, who hails from Matthews, near Charlotte, made a surprise appearance in a Senate race hundreds of miles from his home base. Or, at least, his picture did.

The state GOP ran a television ad in the district covering coastal Carteret, Craven and Pamlico counties questioning the trustworthiness of Democrat Pete Bland, equating him with Black.

Bland, in the Senate since February, when he was appointed to fill a vacant seat, was surprised to see his face next to that of Black, a man he said he barely knows. Besides, he pointed out, his Republican opponent, state Rep. Jean Preston, twice crossed party lines to vote for Black as speaker.

This coastal contest has been blazing for weeks, through the mail and on television and radio. Republicans consider this district one of their best chances to narrow the Democrats' advantage in the Senate. State Democrats have poured money into the district campaign.

Democrats won't say how much they are spending this year. Two years ago, the Democratic incumbent spent nearly $700,000, more than half coming from the state Democratic Party. The Republican candidate spent about $200,000 in the loss.

Preston said that if she is not outspent by more than 2-to-1, she can win.

"I love a challenge," she said.