Britt Cobb, the man who steadfastly said he was not a politician, is running for state agriculture commissioner.

Cobb, who has been acting agriculture commissioner since June, announced Monday that he will seek a full term in 2004. He will face off in a May primary against fellow Democrat Tom Gilmore.

"The longer I was in the job, the more I realized it was a great opportunity to continue my life's work," Cobb said. "It's an opportunity to really do a lot of good."

Cobb's entry into the political world has been sudden.

Until June, when former Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps resigned, Cobb, 54, was a midlevel state employee who had been with the department 30 years. But on the day Phipps resigned, Gov. Mike Easley bypassed several higher-ranking employees and asked Cobb to fill the job while he searched for a permanent successor.

Cobb said he thought at the time that he would fill in for a few weeks and return to his position as assistant director of marketing. He said he would not be a candidate in 2004 and maintained that position until recently.

Earlier this month, Easley made the appointment official, giving Cobb his unofficial blessing to run.

Now Cobb, Gilmore and Republican candidate Steve Troxler are working to rise above the scandal that has tainted the Agriculture Department during the past year.

Phipps, a Democrat, pleaded guilty in November to federal extortion and fraud charges and admitted taking thousands in illegal cash contributions from vendors at the N.C. State Fair, which the commissioner oversees. She faces five years in prison.

Cobb said Monday that he would not take money from companies seeking to do business at state-run fairs. He also said he will go beyond state election law requirements by refusing cash contributions and reporting all donations, even those under $100.

His opponents have also promised not to take money from the carnival industry and to report all donors. All say they will rely on their networks of friends, political activists and farmers around the state for contributions.

"I'm just going to continue doing the best job I can do, and people will see that," Cobb said.

Since taking over, Cobb has revamped the selection process for the company that runs the N.C. State Fair midway to eliminate perceptions of unfairness. This past year, Cobb asked companies for proposals, selected all those he thought capable of handling the fair and then asked each to offer the state a flat fee for every paying fairgoer.

The state took in $4.6 million from the 2003 fair, more than double what it had ever made before. Cobb said he will use the same process this year and then re-evaluate it.

But when asked about his priorities as commissioner, Cobb didn't mention the fair.

Cobb said he would devote resources to protecting the state's food supply against disease and terrorism and promised to work aggressively for a federal tobacco quota buyout, which many farmers see as the industry's salvation. He said a top priority would be pursuing new markets for North Carolina commodities by beefing up staff in the international marketing division.

Selling to foreign countries "is going to be the growth of agriculture," Cobb said. "In some cases, it's going to be the survival of agriculture."