Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Cobey is touting a new internal poll of likely primary voters showing he is gaining on the best-known candidate in the race, former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot.

The poll shows that 28 percent of 500 registered voters favor Vinroot, while Cobey, a former congressman from Durham County, garnered 17 percent and state Senate GOP Leader Patrick Ballantine of Wilmington received 10 percent. Three of the other four candidates drew a combined 3 percent (Timothy Cook, a Guilford County chemist, wasn't included), while the remaining 42 percent were undecided.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. It was conducted by The Anderson Group, a national Republican polling firm.

"It is clear that Cobey is on the move in this race," pollster Wes Anderson said. "For all practical purposes, this is becoming a two-man race."

A January poll released by Vinroot said he had 37 percent, compared with 9 percent for Ballantine and 5 percent for Cobey.

The seven candidates, campaigning toward the July 20 primary, are vying to carry the GOP banner against incumbent Democrat Mike Easley in the fall.

Cobey's new poll drew skepticism from his competitors.

"No poll has been taken that I've seen that corroborates his poll numbers," said James Earp, Ballantine's campaign manager.

Earp noted that an Elon University poll in March showed that Cobey only had name recognition among 23 percent of the state's voters. Vinroot, who has twice run unsuccessfully for governor, had the highest name recognition at 56 percent.

Vinroot's campaign manager, Charles Cote, focused on the positive. "All I know is we're in first place in both polls," he said. "We feel good about that, and we feel good about the direction of the campaign.

McCain makes appeal

U.S. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, is the latest prominent politician to take part in an ad plugging the N.C. Public Campaign Financing Fund. The 30-second ad urging taxpayers to check off a $3 box on their income tax returns is on the fund's Web site (www.ncvotered.com).

Checking the box steers $3 of one's existing tax bill to the fund, which will produce a voters' guide and make money available to state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals candidates who abide by campaign spending limits.

Advocates hope to raise about $900,000 for the fund. Other prominent supporters include former governors Jim Hunt, a Democrat, and Jim Holshouser, a Republican.

Miller hires aide

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller has hired a new district director -- Pam Kohl, the executive director of the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education. She is expected to start in mid-June.

Kohl replaces Stephanie Bass, who will continue to work part time as an adviser to Miller, a Raleigh Democrat. Bass is working on a biography about former state Rep. Ruth Easterling, a Charlotte Democrat who at 91 didn't seek re-election in 2002 after nearly 30 years as a legislator.

Kohl has ties to both ends of Miller's district. She was born and raised in Greensboro but has called Raleigh home since 1977. She worked for Gov. Jim Hunt during his first two terms and also served as planning director for the United Way of North Carolina and the CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Capital and Coast.