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RALEIGH — Libertarian candidate for governor Michael Munger's name will be on the ballot alongside Democrat Bev Perdue and Republican Pat McCrory. So, the Duke political science professor reasons he should be alongside them at upcoming debates.

But at least one upcoming debate will exclude him while other hosts are having to be reminded that North Carolina officially has three parties.

"If I'm invited to the debate, and I do a bad job, voters are going to say 'I'm not interested,'" Munger said. "If I do a good job, if I raise some ideas, some issues that other people aren't talking about, I can make the political system more competitive, more transparent....Either way, I don't see how it harms anyone else, and it may very well help."

In many respects, the discussion over debates mirrors the discussion Libertarians are having with voters, news media and other players across a variety of topics this year.

Libertarians have played a part in North Carolina elections for years, but state ballot-access rules have consistently stripped them of their status as an official party. The party submitted enough signatures this spring to regain their ballot access, meaning that candidates such as Munger will have their names printed alongside those of candidates from the two bigger parties.

Now, Munger says, the party must take advantage of the opportunities available this year that have not been a part of prior elections.

The Libertarians' presidential candidate, Bob Barr, may play the role of spoiler in North Carolina, meaning he is more likely to visit here and help raise money. And Munger sees Republicans disaffected with their national leadership rallying to the Libertarians.

Also, the legislature recently lowered the threshold the party will need to meet to retain its ballot access for the next election. In years past, the candidates for governor needed to get 10 percent of the vote. That number has been lowered to 2 percent.

Hitting that mark would let the party put its time and money into organizing for future elections rather than circulating ballot-access petitions.

But with that opportunity, Munger said, comes a risk.

"Let's be honest. I think a lot of people have the perception that Libertarians aren't serious about trying to win office and that some of the issues that Libertarians emphasize are not really mainstream politics," Munger said. "I think that's exaggerated but not completely untrue. So, some of the burden on us is to be able to conduct campaigns responsibly, in a way that's directed toward issues people care about."

For his part, Munger points to places where Perdue and McCrory agree but he differs. For example, Perdue and McCrory have said they favor the death penalty to some degree. Munger is an opponent.

How much he gets to display that contrast will be, in part, up to those hosting debates this year. Spokesmen for Perdue and McCrory say their candidates have no problem if Munger is included in debates.

"Pat doesn't host debates — he attends them. It is up to the folks planning the debates to decide who to invite," Amy Auth, a spokeswoman for McCrory, wrote in an e-mail.

Munger said that at least one television station that is hosting a debate, WTVD in Durham, has indicated it would allow him to participate.

But a spokesman for the N.C. Bar Association, which is hosting the first nontelevised debate of the season, said Munger was intentionally not invited.

"The focal point all along has been on the candidates from the two major parties," said Russell Rawlings, a spokesman for the association, which is holding its forum June 21 in Atlantic Beach.

Access to early debates, Munger said, was crucial because those would be the forums through which voters would form their earliest impressions of candidates.

"I think it's an outrage that an organization...would make a choice where they're going to substitute their own judgment for that of the voters," he said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com