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THE POLL: Associated Press-GfK poll, presidential race in North Carolina among likely voters, 15 electoral votes

THE NUMBERS: Barack Obama 48 percent, John McCain 46 percent

OF INTEREST: Ninety percent say they worry about the state's economy, and 72 percent are concerned about their family's finances. Both groups are divided about evenly between Obama and McCain. Obama has an edge of just 6 percentage points on which candidate is most trusted to handle the economy, but a 13-point advantage for better understanding how the financial crisis affects people. McCain is favored slightly to best deal with national security. Two-thirds think Obama will be elected. Whites favor McCain by 24 percentage points. Fourteen percent of white Democrats said blacks are "violent," one of only three states where that answer exceeded 10 percent. Twenty percent of white Democrats are backing McCain. Whites who've not finished college back him by 31 points, and white evangelical or born again Christians support him by 50 points. Men are evenly split while women tilt a bit toward Obama. McCain is ahead by 9 points with independents. Obama leads among people who say they've voted already by 26 points. Democrat Kay Hagan is narrowly leading in her attempt to unseat Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Democrat Bev Perdue and Republican Pat McCrory are even in their fight to become governor.

DETAILS: Conducted Oct. 22-26 by landline telephone, included 601 likely voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

MORE: AP-GfK Poll: http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

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Note: There were not enough blacks or Hispanics in state samples to provide statistically meaningful data on their preferences.