WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH - At midmorning Wednesday, a campaign worker handed a refreshed Patrick Ballantine a cell phone.

"It's Bill Cobey," he was told.

The night before, Mr. Ballantine landed himself in a runoff for the Republican gubernatorial nomination by besting Mr. Cobey and finishing in a virtual dead heat with former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot. After decamping to the Blockade Runner hotel for a few precious hours of sleep, Mr. Ballantine was up and moving into the next phase of his upstart campaign to become governor.

The 39-year-old lawyer who quit his New Hanover County state Senate seat earlier this year to run full time for the governor's job, took Mr. Cobey's call in private, removing himself to a quiet spot under a cabana at the Blockade Runner hotel.

According to unofficial vote totals, Mr. Ballantine and Mr. Vinroot won the right to compete in a second primary set for Aug. 17.

Talking Wednesday on the cell phone, Mr. Ballantine accepted congratulations from Mr. Cobey, who came in third in Tuesday's primary and then chatted out of earshot of reporters and campaign aides.

In Charlotte, Mr. Vinroot, with Tuesday's primary clearing the way for an August runoff between him and Mr. Ballantine, called into question his opponent's conservative credentials.

The candidates in the runoff to determine which Republican will face Gov. Mike Easley in this year's gubernatorial election had wasted no time getting back to campaigning.

Mr. Ballantine, the former state senator from Wilmington, said he spent the morning on the telephone hearing from supporters and looking for resources to keep campaigning until the Aug. 17 runoff.

"The campaign has been a marathon for more than a year now," said Mr. Ballantine, the apparent second-place finisher in Tuesday's primary. "But now it's a sprint."

According to the unofficial results, Mr. Ballantine won in 34 of North Carolina's 100 counties, most of them in the east where Mr. Vinroot performed poorly in his 2000 defeat to Gov. Easley. Mr. Ballantine also won a handful farther west, including Macon, Cherokee and Yancey counties in the mountains.

Mr. Vinroot won 28 counties, including his home Mecklenburg as well as most in the 5th and 10th Congressional Districts, which held intense GOP primaries Tuesday.

Mr. Cobey won 33 counties, mainly in the Triangle and Triad with a few in the mountains such as Buncombe and Rutherford.

Mr. Cobey, the former congressman and state GOP chairman from Durham, spoke with both men by telephone, an aide said.

During the calls and at a news conference Wednesday, Mr. Cobey couldn't say when and if he would lend his endorsement – and the likely supply of volunteers and donors that would come with it – to either of the candidates.

An endorsement would be a great boost to either campaign, but particularly so for Mr. Ballantine's effort. Aides said the campaign spent much of its resources getting to the July 20 primary and access to Cobey donors could broaden fund-raising efforts.

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Ballantine said the Ballantine campaign had "the best grassroots effort in the state" and that he looked forward to inviting Cobey supporters into his camp.

He pointed to a discussion he had with a Cobey campaign worker at a Wilmington polling place on Tuesday. The man, Galen Hobbs of Wilmington, said he was working hard for Mr. Cobey on primary day, but if his candidate failed to win or move onto the runoff, he would work for Mr. Ballantine.

Strong grassroots support is expected to be critical in winning a runoff expected to draw even fewer voters than the 11 percent statewide who cast ballots in Tuesday's primary.

But Mr. Cobey said Wednesday that he wants to talk to his supporters first.

"Bill has no intention of announcing an endorsement anytime soon," said Cobey campaign spokesman Jeff Miller. "The campaign has never been about him, it's been about his supporters and he's going to talk to them first."

The possibility exists, Mr. Miller said, "that he may not endorse anyone."

Mr. Ballantine said that Mr. Cobey told him he needs a few days to think about what he will do. "But it was a very positive conversation, though," Mr. Ballantine was.

In Charlotte, Mr. Vinroot said he was the true conservative in the race, according to the Associated Press.

"I think it's a clear choice between a moderate with a big-spending record and someone who wants to reduce bureaucracy and government waste," said Mr. Vinroot, 63, who is making his third run for the office. "I think I'm the clear choice."

This report includes material from the Associated Press.