Raleigh, North Carolina  - North Carolina's governor endorsed Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, dealing a blow to rival Barack Obama's hopes of pulling off a strong win in the southern state's Democratic presidential primary just one week from now.

Mike Easley, a two-term Democratic governor, said he believed Clinton was "ready to deliver" during a joint appearance in the state capital Raleigh.

Clinton has campaigned in North Carolina the last three days, hoping to narrow Obama's double-digit lead in state-wide polls after her victory in Pennsylvania last week.

The Pennsylvania win gave Clinton fresh momentum and an infusion of campaign donations as she fights to keep her presidential campaign alive, despite trailing Obama in the number of delegates needed to the Democratic Party convention in August in Denver.

North Carolina holds its primary elections on May 6 along with Indiana, which is a much wider-open race according to polls. Only six contests remain after the two states vote.

Party leaders including Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean have said they hope the increasingly negative race will be resolved well before the party's convention in August, to prevent a split among Democrats and allow time for preparing the general election fight against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Super-delegates - party leaders and activists that make up about one-fifth of total delegates and could still swing the nomination to Clinton - should make their decisions known once the last primary is held in early June, Dean said.

Everett Ward, an Obama supporter and super-delegate as member of the DNC in North Carolina, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that he was "very concerned" about the possibility of a "divisive" convention hurting the party's chances in November.

Until Easley came forward Tuesday, Obama had won the battle of endorsements in North Carolina with the backing of a number of congressmen and state party leaders.

But North Carolina's most popular politician, former presidential candidate John Edwards, has so far refused to throw his weight behind either candidate despite lobbying from both sides.

Clinton and Obama are also waiting for another party heavy-weight, former vice president Al Gore, to make an endorsement. (dpa)