North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson will be the Republican nominee for the state’s hotly contested gubernatorial race this fall.
Robinson easily won the North Carolina Republican primary Tuesday evening and will face the state’s attorney general Josh Stein (D) in what is expected to be a toss-up general-election contest to succeed term-limited incumbent Roy Cooper in November.
Robinson easily bested North Carolina state treasurer Dale Folwell and trial lawyer Bill Graham, outperforming polls leading up to the primary.
“North Carolina families want someone whose conservative policies will deliver results by expanding opportunity, security and freedom. From investing in safe neighborhoods to driving economic prosperity, Mark Robinson will put the people of North Carolina first,” the Republican governors association chairman Bill Lee said upon Robinson’s victory.
“The RGA congratulates Mark Robinson on his win and we look forward to supporting him in the general election.”
Former president Donald Trump endorsed Robinson leading up to the GOP primary and likened Robinson to “Martin Luther King on steroids” at a rally on Saturday.
Trump won handily North Carolina’s GOP presidential primary against rival candidate Nikki Haley as he inches closer towards clinching the party’s nomination. President Joe Biden won the North Carolina presidential primary on the Democratic side with little competition from his long-shot challengers.
A staunch Trump ally, Robinson is known for his brash persona and long history of controversial statements. During the primary campaign, he sought to alleviate donor concerns over potentially damaging opposition research on his inflammatory comments and past personal-finance issues.
Democrats have already begun attacking Robinson as an extremist on the issue of abortion: He has previously called for a ban on abortions with no exceptions, saying in 2020 that “there is no compromise on abortion” and that “it makes no difference to me why or how that child ended up in the womb.” More recently, Robinson has pledged to increase the scope of pro-life protections in North Carolina.
“We got it down to 12 weeks. The next goal is to get it down to six and then just keep moving from there,” he said at a campaign event last month.
The lieutenant governor has also taken a hard line on the issue of protecting women’s spaces from male intrusion.
“We’re going to defend women in this state,” Robinson said in a speech at a campaign stop last month. “That means if you’re a man on Friday night and all of the sudden on Saturday, you feel like a woman and you want to go in the women’s bathroom in the mall, you will be arrested — or whatever we got to do to you.”
Robinson became the state’s lieutenant governor in 2021 after winning against his Democratic opponent with 51.6 percent of the vote. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and manufacturing worker who served in the Army.
In the 2022 midterms, Republican senate candidate Ted Budd won North Carolina’s only statewide election 50.5 percent to 47.3 percent against Democratic challenger Cheri Beasley. GOP candidates defeated Democratic counterparts in key down-ballot races for judicial posts and state legislative seats last midterm cycle.
Stein is looking to succeed term-limited incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper, a governor left largely powerless by the state legislature’s Republican supermajority. Stein’s campaign said in January it raised $5.7 million over the second half of 2023 compared to Robinson’s $3.4 million fundraising haul.
“I’m incredibly humbled, honored, and pumped to officially be the Democratic nominee for Governor of North Carolina,” Stein said on X Tuesday night.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported our campaign and believes in our vision for a stronger, safer North Carolina.”