RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — State Treasurer Richard Moore says an ad that talks about his rival’s work for education is illegal. And Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue says a mention in Moore’s ad about a decade-old campaign finance investigation smears her not only her name, but that of the state’s longest-serving governor.

Such was the Democratic race for governor Thursday as both campaigns complained about new commercials released this week.

Moore asked the State Board of Elections to investigate a radio commercial sponsored by the National Education Association. An attorney for Moore’s campaign wrote board leaders asking them to label the NEA radio ad unlawful because it crosses the line into express advocacy for Perdue, even though it doesn’t specifically tell listeners to vote for her.
     
The NEA plans to spend $360,000 through April 5 on the ads, which praise Perdue for her support for education programs and higher teacher salaries. It asks listeners to call Perdue to tell her to keep fighting for North Carolina schools.
     
“They have taken phrases directly from her campaign Web site and incorporated them into an ad,” Moore told reporters. “If that’s not an illegal expenditure, then I don’t know what it is.”
     
NEA spokesman Dan Kaufman said the “complaint is absurd because it’s clearly a grass-roots lobbying ad under North Carolina state law.”
     
The board is reviewing the ad, said Kim Strach, a state deputy elections director. A commercial regulated as a campaign ad is subject to stricter fundraising rules.
     
Perdue’s campaign is unhappy with a Moore TV ad that mentions a campaign finance investigation related to contributions she received during the 1990s.
     
Prosecutors at the time said former rest home operator A. Stephen Pierce gave more than $101,000 in illegal contributions to the campaigns of four people, including Perdue, then a state senator, and Gov. Jim Hunt, who served four terms as governor. Pierce pleaded guilty in 1999 to several campaign finance counts.
     
Perdue received $19,000 in illegal campaign contributions, which she forfeited. Forsyth County District Attorney Tom Keith said at the time there was no evidence that Perdue or the other candidates knew the contributions were illegal when they were received.
     
Moore “is knowingly smearing Jim Hunt and Bev Perdue when he knows that neither one of them did anything wrong,” Perdue campaign spokesman David Kochman said.
     
Moore’s campaign defended the investigation as a legitimate issue, citing its use in an ad by Mike Easley during his 2000 Democratic gubernatorial primary campaign against then-Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker, another recipient of Pierce’s money.