Deadline passes for Mark Robinson to drop out of North Carolina governor’s race

Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is officially staying in the race for governor after the midnight deadline for him to drop out of the race passed.

Robinson was pressured from members of his own party to drop out of the state’s gubernatorial race, people familiar with the matter told WRAL on Thursday, following a CNN report that said he made lewd and divisive comments on a pornographic website.

CNN reported that Robinson posted frequently on the website “Nude Africa” between 2008 and 2012 about a variety of topics. He referred to himself as a “Black Nazi” in one comment and, in another, remarked that he’d have preferred Adolf Hitler as president rather than Barack Obama. In another comment on the website, he wrote that “some people need to be slaves,” according to CNN.

Prior to CNN’s publication of the report, Robinson posted a video on social media in which he preemptively denied the allegations. He said he plans to remain in the race against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein, the state’s sitting attorney general.

“They want to focus on salacious tabloid lies,” he said. “We’re not going to let them do that. We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it.”

A spokesperson for CNN didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Robinson also made a number of sexually explicit comments on the website, CNN reported, including apparent admissions of “peeping” in a women’s gym. “I sat there for about an hour and watched as several girls came in and showered,” Robinson wrote, according to CNN. The network also highlighted statements from Robinson in which he says he prefers transgender pornography.

“I like watching [transgender]-on-girl porn!” Robinson wrote, using a slur for transgender people, according to CNN.

As a public official, Robinson has made opposition to transgender rights a key focus of many speeches in recent years.

“Let me reassure you that the things you see in that story are not the words of Mark Robinson,” Robinson said in the video. “You know my words. You know my character.”

In an interview with CNN, Robinson suggested that he was the victim of a “high-tech lynching.”

“The things that people can do with the internet now is incredible,” he said. “… I have absolutely no idea how it was done.”

While Robinson has a history of divisive statements, the comments unearthed by CNN seemed to go beyond what he’s said in the past, some Republicans said.

“If the recent allegations against Robinson are true, combined with his previous public rhetoric, I believe it’s time for him to step aside,” Scott Lassiter, a Republican former Apex town councilman and current state Senate candidate, told WRAL.

Lassiter said he would favor a new candidate — even though the election is just weeks away. “North Carolinians deserve a viable choice in this election,” he said. “… For the good of the state and our party, I believe he should suspend his campaign to allow a quality candidate to finish this race.”

The North Carolina Republican Party issued a statement late Thursday underscoring Robinson’s denial of the allegations made in the CNN report. “But that won’t stop the left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks,” the statement said. “The left needs this election to be a personality contest, not a policy contest, because if voters are focused on policy, Republicans win on Election Day.”

‘Where this race is headed’

Robinson on Thursday was scheduled to appear at events in Henderson and Norlina. Those events were canceled. He was also scheduled to attend a Raleigh speech by Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance on Wednesday. Robinson ultimately didn’t attend.

As the CNN story broke Thursday, national political analysts at Sabato’s Crystal Ball announced they’d shifted their prediction for North Carolina’s gubernatorial race from “leans Democratic” to “likely Democratic.” Robinson seemed to be slipping further behind in the polls since the group shifted its prediction from “toss up” to “leans Democratic” last month.

Overall, 51% of likely November voters support Stein and 37% support Robinson, with 11% undecided, according to the WRAL News Poll of 676 likely voters, which was released this month. The gap has widened significantly since March, when the previous WRAL News Poll showed Stein with a 44%-to-42% lead over Robinson.

Thursday’s events are indicative of where the race is headed, Coleman said.

On Thursday morning, before the Robinson was published, Stein held a “Republicans for Stein” event featuring dozens of former GOP politicos, including elected officials, who said they were backing Stein over Robinson. “That’s a decent summation of where this race is headed,” Coleman said.

Robinson and Stein are seeking to replace Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is term-limited and cannot run again. Cooper has endorsed Stein to succeed him.

“Is there something special that happened?” Cooper said at a Raleigh event on Thursday when asked by a reporter about the pressure on Robinson. “Every day could be a reason for him to have dropped out of the race. He is the wrong choice for North Carolina.”

In a statement, the Stein campaign said the CNN report shows Robinson isn’t fit for office. “Josh remains focused on winning this campaign so that together we can build a safer, stronger North Carolina for everyone,” the statement said.

‘Allegations are concerning’

Robinson has a long and public history of making incendiary comments about Jews, Muslims, women, LGBTQ people and others — remarks that for years have caused some Republican insiders to question the viability of his candidacy in a general election.

Recent polls show Stein with a commanding lead in the polls even as the presidential race remains more or less tied in North Carolina. Much of the difference, the polls show, is that Stein is pulling more support from self-described conservative voters than Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

But Robinson has maintained strong support from loyal GOP voters. He won the Republican Party primary in March with nearly twice as many votes as both his opponents combined.

In 2021, video emerged of Robinson telling a church congregation that no one should teach children in classrooms about “transgenderism, homosexuality — any of that filth.” In a 2017 Facebook post, he said: “There is a reason the liberal media fills the airwaves with programs about the Nazi and the ‘6 million Jews’ they murdered.” In a 2018 post, Robinson said: “This foolishness about Hitler disarming millions of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of hogwash.”

Some leading Republican politicians expressed hesitation about the new comments CNN reported Thursday.

“The allegations are concerning but we don’t have any facts,” U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, R-North Carolina, said on Fox News before the CNN story was published. “So we’re just going to wait through the weekend, and kind of get everything together.”

Little time left for change

A lot would have to happen to replace Robinson on the ballot, and the party may not have the weekend to get it done if it wanted to.

The state Republican Party’s executive committee would first have to approve a replacement. Then there’s the question about what appears on ballots. A spokesman for the North Carolina State Board of Elections said the state plans to begin mailing the ballots out Friday morning to comply with federal law.

“To withdraw, the candidate must submit a written request to the North Carolina State Board of Elections that is received by 11:59 p.m. tonight,” elections board spokesman Pat Gannon said Thursday. “If a written request is received, the State executive committee of the applicable party has the option to select a replacement nominee.”

Ballots in North Carolina were supposed to be mailed out two weeks ago, but a lawsuit by ex-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take his name off the ballot at the last minute delayed the process as state officials were forced to repeat them.

GOP pressure was already mounting

Robinson was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president. Despite the endorsement, Robinson has trailed Stein by a far-wider margin than the 3-point lead Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has over Trump in the state, according to the recent WRAL News Poll.

Political analysts and insiders have said Robinson’s lag in recent polls could hurt Trump’s odds of carrying the state in the presidential race.

“Trump is being weighed down by a very unpopular Republican candidate for governor,” Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff, told News Nation on Aug. 17.

“So Trump is going to have some difficulty in this state, in North Carolina, that he may not have in others,” Mulvaney said.

Robinson rejected Mulvaney’s analysis in an interview Thursday outside the restaurant. “I don’t believe that at all,” he told WRAL in September.

Asked Thursday whether Trump was still endorsing Robinson, the former president’s campaign sent WRAL a statement that didn’t mention Robinson.

“President Trump’s campaign is focused on winning the White House and saving this country,” Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokeswoman. “North Carolina is a vital part of that plan. We are confident that as voters compare the Trump record of a strong economy, low inflation, a secure border, and safe streets, with the failures of Biden-Harris, then President Trump will win the Tar Heel State once again. We will not take our eye off the ball.”

WRAL state government reporters Will Doran, Paul Specht, Brian Murphy, Emily Walkenhorst, WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie and WRAL State Government Editor Jack Hagel contributed to this report.