updated 9:13 a.m. ET April 17, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. - District Attorney Mike Nifong, who is overseeing the Duke rape investigation while campaigning to keep his job, tells voters he would rather “do the right thing than win this election.”

But many people in Durham are wondering whether the nearly 30-year veteran of the D.A’s office can succeed on either count.

Defense attorneys have blasted him for persisting with the investigation despite DNA evidence they claim proves that members of the lacrosse team did not attack a stripper at a March 13 party. At the same time, supporters of the woman have demanded to know why he has not yet made any arrests.

Meanwhile, the two people running against Nifong in the May 2 election are making a campaign issue out of the case. “Do you want to live over the next four years what we have endured for the last three weeks?” said challenger Keith Bishop.

Nifong, 55, brought some of the criticism upon himself with aggressive early public comments about the case, labeling some players “hooligans,” saying he was confident a rape occurred and boldly predicting DNA test results would identify the guilty.

But there are many members of the defense bar in Durham — including some who represent Duke lacrosse players — who think highly of Nifong.

“Mike is a level playing field. He does not do politics,” said John Bourlan, a defense attorney in Durham who figures he has worked with Nifong on thousands of cases. “You’re treated the same way in everything. You know you’re getting a square deal.”

Bourlan said Nifong has never tried a case as a bluff: “He’s not good at hiding emotion. He’s someone who should never play poker.”

After spending what he estimates were more than 40 hours speaking with reporters about the Duke case, Nifong stopped granting interviews on April 3. He has said very little about the case since then.

“Do I think Mike wishes he would have given a handful of interviews instead of 50? I’m sure he does,” said Durham attorney Woody Vann, who represented the alleged victim in a criminal case four years ago but is not involved in the current case.

Vann said the prosecutor’s bold initial remarks were “a little out of character. He’s usually a little more subdued and measured in his statements.”

Norm Early, a former district attorney in Denver who now works with the National District Attorneys Association, said Nifong should not have granted interviews about the allegations. If he takes the case to a grand jury on Monday, as defense attorneys expect, he is open to criticism no matter what they decide, Early said.

“It’s a terribly difficult situation to be in, and it’s a result of comments that have been made at the beginning of the case,” Early said.

NBC VIDEO Friend at Duke party speaks out April 17: More than a month after allegations were made that members of the Duke University lacrosse team raped an exotic dancer at a party, a friend of the alleged victim who was at the party speaks out. NBC's Ron Mott reports. Today show

A native of Wilmington and graduate of the University of North Carolina, Nifong worked as a teacher and social worker before entering law school at Chapel Hill in 1975.

His offer to work for free in the office of then-Durham District Attorney Dan Edwards led to a paying position and a career as a prosecutor in this former tobacco town. His wife works for an agency that serves as an advocate for abused or neglected children in court. The couple have a 15-year-old son.

By 1999, Nifong was the top prosecutor under then-District Attorney Jim Hardin. After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, however, Nifong stopped trying cases for two years to undergo surgery, radiation and hormone therapy. He says he is now cancer-free.

When Hardin was made a judge last spring, Nifong was appointed to take his place. To keep his job, he will have to win a three-way Democratic primary election on May 2. The contest is likely to determine the next district attorney, since no Republicans are running.

Nifong’s other primary opponent is a former colleague, Freda Black, whom Nifong dismissed when he took over the D.A.’s office. At a candidates’ forum, Black sharply criticized Nifong’s early rhetoric, saying it could force a trial in the case to be moved from Durham County.

“Premature information that is either leaked or told to the public can jeopardize a case,” she said. “Don’t you think a Durham County case should be judged by Durham County residents?”

But Early also said the case appears to be proceeding as it should.

“I honestly believe that he’s not trying to use this case one way or another and attempting to do what’s right here,” she said. “But what you’re trying to do and what people can make it look like you’re trying to do can be two different things.”

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