North Carolina's gubernatorial race remains a close one, with some polls favoring the Democrat Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and some showing Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory out in front in his bid to be the first Republican in the governor's mansion since 1992.

An Oct. 18 to 19 poll from North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling showed Perdue leading McCrory by 4 percentage points, 48 percent to 44 percent. A Civitas Institute poll taken from Oct. 18 to 20 has the candidates tied at 43 percent of the vote, while a Survey USA poll from the same dates has McCrory in the lead with 46 percent to Perdue's 43.

With the race so tight, the candidates have been trading jabs through heated campaign ads. With several North Carolina races up for grabs in this election cycle, a flood of money from outside groups has been used to buy attack ads.

The Charlotte Observer reported this week that $20 million in outside funds have been used on state campaigns, a record in North Carolina. Most of the money has targeted the race between incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole and challenger Democrat Kay Hagan, but the governor's race was the second-largest recipient.

The Republican Governors Association spent about $4 million against Perdue and the Democratic Governors Association has paid for ads against McCrory through a group called the Alliance for North Carolina, which has spent nearly $2.4 million on ads.

-- By Talea Miller, Online NewsHour