With the North Carolina primary only two days away, the five Republican gubernatorial hopefuls each have their sights set on claiming the party's nod for the November election.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, N.C. Sen. Fred Smith, Bob Orr, Bill Graham and Elbie Powers are all vying for the Republican nod and a possible shot at the top job in Raleigh during the fall.

According to recent polls conducted by Public Policy Polling last week, McCrory remains the leading Republican contender with 36 percent. Smith is edging McCrory's lead with 31 percent.

Graham, an attorney from Salisbury, is holding 6 percent of the vote while Orr, a former N.C. Supreme Court justice from Raleigh is estimated to have 5 percent of the voters.

Powers, a farmer from Franklin, holds 1 percent of the potential vote, according to the survey.

Among the variety of issues that have become part and parcel of this year's gubernatorial primary, candidates have made their positions clear on topics such as education, economic development, illegal immigration and crime.

Orr, 61, said that more focus needs to be put on growing small businesses throughout North Carolina.

"I have opposed the multi-million dollar giveaways to selected corporations," Orr said, adding that more funding is needed to promote small businesses.

Job training for such industries as health care companies is another area that needs to be improved, he said.

To do this, Orr said, the state needs to utilize its community college system in a more viable way.

"In many communities, health care companies are the largest employers," Orr said. "We're not investing in our community colleges to train (for these jobs)."

McCrory, 51, who has served seven terms as the Queen City's mayor, said in a previous Telegram interview that quelling the rising crime rate in cities throughout North Carolina is a top priority.

"The North Carolina state government has turned a blind eye to gang violence," McCrory said.

One of the main issues with gang violence is that juvenile offenders often slip through the cracks and become repeat offenders as adults, he said.

As governor, McCrory said he would work to implement larger detention facilities for juvenile offenders. Funding for these facilities would be garnered from an increase in the dollar amount of criminal fines.

For adult offenders, he said, there also is a need for more prisons.

"You have to have the prisons to back up arrests," McCrory said. "This has been going on a long time. The state is silent on this issue."

McCrory said Thursday that he believes it is "incredible" he has taken the lead among the GOP candidates.

"It's incredible in only three months to be at the position we're in," he said. "I think our message is resonating across the state."

Smith, 66, has made his stance on illegal immigration in North Carolina one of his main issues during his campaign.

In a previous Telegram interview, he said he believes in a "firm hand" in dealing with the challenge.

This entails, he said, cracking down on illegal immigrants entering community colleges throughout the state.

"If they want to allow illegal immigrants to enter community college, there is a right way of doing it," Smith said. "It needs to go through the General Assembly. We need to have legal ways to meet economic needs."

Powers, 57, a farmer who has been running a grassroots, "word of mouth campaign" via the Internet said that tax reform is a key issue of his platform.

According to Powers' Web site, North Carolina officials need to start running the state's government like a business.

"We, the working, must have relief," Powers said in a statement on his Web site. "It will not come from politicians. We must run our state like a business, (the taxpayers') business; investing, earning and making profits."

Graham, 47, the youngest of all the GOP governor candidates said that fixing the state's education system can be done by improving trade skill curriculums and easing the amount of state regulation.

"We're not emphasizing vocational and technical training when we need to," Graham said. "We are sending more and more mandates to counties and expecting them to work miracles."