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RALEIGH (AP) - With nearly 2.6 million ballots already cast, the candidates at the top of North Carolina's ticket - competing in races that most see as too close to call - traveled across the state Monday in search of voters still making up their minds on the eve of a historic Election Day.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, a Republican seeking to grab a governor's office Democrats have held for 95 of the past 107 years, began a five-city tour with a rally outside the old Capitol building in Raleigh. He predicted he'd soon return - as the state's next chief executive.

"We've had passion. And that's what's going to get us over the top tomorrow," McCrory said. "It's the passion for new leadership that is passionately needed in North Carolina."

His rival for the state's top job, Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, said she also feels confident despite polls that suggest it could be the state's closest gubernatorial election in more than 35 years. She also embarked on a statewide tour by plane, making stops from Winston-Salem to Raleigh.

"So do I have your support?" she asked Deidor Williams during a lunch time stop at the United House of Prayer for All People in Charlotte. The 50-year-old Mecklenburg county maintenance worker looked up from his plate of fried chicken and potatoes, and smiled. "Of course," he said.

"I didn't expect all the hoopla," Williams said of Perdue's visit. "She wanted my vote, but she didn't have to ask."

McCrory and Perdue were joined on the trail by hundreds of candidates for public office, from down ballot candidates running for county commissioner and local judge all the way up to the very top of the ticket: Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama planned a rally late Monday in Charlotte as he tries to win a swing state that polls say is a tossup between him and Republican John McCain.

"If we take North Carolina, we'll take the election," Obama said later Monday during a surprise stop at one of his field offices.

North Carolina hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan planned to take advantage of Obama's trip, shifting her campaign's focus on the final full-day of campaigning from the state's east to the Charlotte area.

Though an Associated Press-GfK poll indicated last week that Hagan has a slight edge in her bid to unseat GOP Sen. Elizabeth Dole, she superstitiously declined to express any optimism.

"The biggest poll comes tomorrow night," she said, taking a break from greeting voters at a barbecue restaurant in Goldsboro.

Dole took to the skies Monday in an effort to reach all of the state's media markets. In her first bid for re-election, Dole is trying to avoid getting swept up in a potential Democratic string of Senate victories on Tuesday. Hagan, a state senator from Greensboro, has said Dole is too closely aligned with President Bush and has sided with special interests during her six years on Capitol Hill.

Dole accuses Hagan of being wobbly on the most important issues of the day, including Iraq and the banking bailout. If Hagan is elected, Dole said Monday, "she'll be Harry Reid's pocket as soon as she gets there" - a reference to the Senate majority leader.

But Dole didn't give that much of a chance. When asked if she had thought about Hagan winning, she said, "No hypotheticals. We're going to win tomorrow."

Nearly 2.6 million people in North Carolina have already voted, standing in long lines over the past few weeks to cast an early or absentee ballot. The huge success of early voting led the state to scale back its estimate of Election Day turnout to about 2 million voters.

If so, that means more than half of this election's ballots are already cast. Four years ago, only 1.1 million people voted early.

Before Perdue went from table to table at her stop in Charlotte, she asked the crowd of about 50 how many of them had voted early. About two dozen people cheered and raised their hand. "This is good," she said.

The intense interest in the race for president and U.S. Senate, credited with driving the boom in early voting, has led those down the ballot to struggle for attention.

Johnny Alexander, a Republican seeking a state Senate seat in Wake County, shared television time with another Senate candidate to save money and stand out in the wave of political advertising.

"It's been very challenging," Alexander said. "A down-ballot race like a state Senate race is just not something that attracts as much attention."

Speaking from the south side of the old Capitol Building in front of a statues of George Washington, McCrory told more than 200 supporters he was confident the early votes - and those to be cast Tuesday - would carry him to victory.

"We think the leaning votes will go our way because ... I think our message appeals to Republicans, Democrats and independents," McCrory said.

McCrory said his campaign already has succeeded in changing how candidates can run for governor in North Carolina, by pursuing a positive campaign based on leadership and not on who raises the most money.

Perdue has had a fundraising advantage, but the Republican Governors Association spent more than $6 million - nearly all going toward television ads critical of Perdue. McCrory said he had no control over what the national Republicans did.

"All I can do is control my campaign, and I'm proud to say that every one of my ads were good upbeat ads in which I did the talking," he said.

In addition to president, U.S. Senate and governor, voters go to the polls Tuesday to choose a new lieutenant governor to succeed Perdue, attorney general and seven other members of the Council of State.

New faces for insurance commissioner and state treasurer are assured after Jim Long decided to step down as commissioner after 24 years and Treasurer Richard Moore ran unsuccessfully for governor.

All 13 members of Congress face challengers, while all 170 seats in the General Assembly are up for additional two-year terms.

One seat on the Supreme Court and six on the Court of Appeals also will be filled, along with hundreds of local seats