It’s Stein v. Robinson for NC Governor

Attorney General Josh Stein secured the Democratic nomination for governor in Tuesday’s primary election and Lt. Governor Mark Robinson bested his rivals in the GOP field, setting up the gubernatorial battle state and nationwide political observers have expected for more than a year. Libertarian Mike Ross also secured his party’s nomination.

Stein took just under 70 percent of the vote in a four way race with former State Supreme Court Associate Justice Mike Morgan (14 percent), Tryon Town Council member Chrelle Booker (6.6 percent), attorney Marcus Williams (5.7 percent), and former police chief Gary Foxx (3.6 percent).

Robinson ended the night with 64.8 percent in a three-way contest with N.C. Treasurer Dale Folwell (19 percent) and former prosecutor and attorney Bill Graham (16 percent).

“Tonight, we took the first step toward building a safer, stronger North Carolina,” Stein said in a statement Tuesday night. “I’m running for Governor because I believe in the promise of North Carolina – that where you come from should never limit how far you can go, that every person deserves a fair shot at prosperity, strong public schools, and a safe place to call home.”

“North Carolina faces a defining choice,” Stein said. “And I am confident that this November, we will reject Mark Robinson’s divisive, job-killing culture wars and instead come together to deliver on North Carolina’s promise for every person.”

Addressing his own supporters after the race was called, Robinson called his primary victory “the culmination of a lot of doggone hard work.”

“We were able to withstand withering attacks from our opponents, all of which were baseless,” Robinson said. “We firmly stand by what we believe in, who we are and our story — because our story is a great story. Our story is a story that is deeply rooted in North Carolina. It is the story of North Carolina. The story of being an underdog, the story of being the person who had to come back, the person who had to overcome obstacles to see a better day, just like North Carolina herself.

If elected, Robinson would become the first Black governor of North Carolina — something state and national Republicans, who struggle with Black voters, see as a possible coup. But Robinson has a long history of sexist, homophobic and antisemitic statements — and even disparaging words about the American Civil Rights Movement and its icons. Prominent members of his own party have publicly worried whether he’s the right candidate for a statewide popular election.

Last month Folwell called Robinson “history’s latest example of someone rising to power through hate.”

Graham also had strong words for Robinson Tuesday night, after the race had been called.

“Mark Robinson is an unelectable candidate in the general election in North Carolina, and he puts a conservative future at risk for everyone, from the courthouse to the White House,” Graham wrote in a statement: “North Carolina’s conservative future should be one where obstacles are seen as opportunities, division is replaced by dedication to a bright future for our children and grandchildren, and hate is replaced with hope.”

Graham and Folwell’s double-digit showings in a three-way GOP primary in which they were vastly outraised and outspent may speak to a division in the party over Robinson, from those who philosophically oppose his rhetoric to those who worry it imperils his candidacy and his party’s chances in November.

Robinson’s own speeches and writing will provide plenty of ammunition for his opposition between now and November.

Robinson has referred to LGBTQ people as “filth,” bragged he will not be “talked into submission” by women, and said he believes Christians are called to be led by men, not women. He has called historical accounts of the Holocaust “hogwash” and agreed publicly with a conspiracy theorist that Jewish bankers are — with Muslims, China and the CIA — among the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”

North Carolina has only elected one Republican governor since 1992 — Pat McCrory, then seen as a moderate former mayor of Charlotte, the state’s largest city. McCrory spent his one turbulent term fighting with members of his own party, even taking GOP legislative leaders to court and denouncing them for political overreach.

Stein’s campaign has defined itself in opposition to Robinson and the state GOP agenda, which includes further abortion restrictions, anti-LGBTQ laws, further loosening gun control laws and restrictions on public money going to private schools.

With Democrats hoping to once again break the GOP supermajority in the General Assembly, Stein is hoping to act as a check on such legislation through the governor’s limited veto power.

Abortion access, a divisive issue among North Carolinians, has been a key issue for both parties.

In 2020, while campaigning for Lt. Governor, Robinson made his position clear — supporting an unconditional ban on abortion in all circumstances.

“For me, there is no compromise on abortion,” Robinson said. “It makes no difference to me why or how that child ended up in that womb.”

Robinson has since denied he is against abortion in all circumstances, attempting to soften his position since Republicans suffered election losses last year in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ending a constitutional right to abortion. Robinson was also forced to address the fact he paid for his then-girlfriend, now his wife, to have an abortion in the 1980s. He now says he regrets that decision.

But Robinson’s moderation on the issue often depends on what sort of crowd he is addressing.

Though he has publicly said he can separate his personal religious convictions from his role in government, Robinson told an American Renewal Project audience earlier this year that his Christian faith guides all of his decisions and is the most important factor in how he does his job.

At a campaign event last month, Robinson said that now the state had a 12-week abortion ban, the next goal was “to get it down to six and then just keep moving from there.”

Earlier this week, in the wake of an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that threatens access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), The Charlotte Observer asked elected Republicans in North Carolina whether they support access to the procedure, which has helped generations of couples with trouble conceiving children. Robinson’s campaign did not answer.

“By refusing to say if he’ll protect IVF, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson is only confirming Republicans’ worst fears that he is too extreme for North Carolina,” said Democratic Governors Association National Press Secretary Devon Cruz. “Unfortunately for Robinson, his toxic record speaks for itself and North Carolinians have no illusions that he would use this – and every – opportunity to put politicians into the doctor’s office and further strip away their reproductive freedom.” 
This article appears courtesy of our media partner NC Newsline.  Per agreement, it has been edited for space limitations only.