RGA Calls It Quits on Additional North Carolina Ad Buys as Mark Robinson Staff Exodus Continues

The hits just keep on coming for North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson’s 2024 gubernatorial campaign. Days after National Review reported on Friday that a Robinson fundraiser with special guest Tennessee governor Bill Lee, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), was called off, a spokeswoman for the group tells NR that there are no plans to commit additional spending on the gubernatorial nominee’s behalf in the lead-up to Election Day.

“We don’t comment on internal strategy or investment decisions, but we can confirm what’s public — our current media buy in North Carolina expires tomorrow, and no further placements have been made,” RGA communications director Courtney Alexander tells National Review. “RGA remains committed to electing Republican Governors all across the country.”

The RGA’s spending update follows a CNN report Thursday afternoon connecting Robinsons’s email to comments on a porn-site messaging board, where he allegedly called himself a “black Nazi” and made other unsavory sexual and race-related comments years before he was elected to statewide office. Robinson has denied the allegations, as NR first reported last Thursday.

Even though North Carolina has long been seen as one of the RGA’s best pickup opportunities this cycle, public polling had suggested that Robinson was lagging behind Democratic attorney general Josh Stein in the weeks before CNN published its report.

The news comes as the Robinson campaign continues to bleed staff. On Sunday, Robinson’s campaign sent out a press release announcing that four employees resigned from his campaign: general consultant Conrad Pogorzelski III, campaign manager Christopher Rodriguez, finance director Heather Whillier, and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk.

“I appreciate the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors,” Robinson said in a press release. “An announcement of new incoming staff members will be forthcoming from the campaign soon.”

Four additional staffers not listed in that press release have also resigned, according to Pogorzelski, Robinson’s former general consultant. “The reports are true that I, along with others from the campaign have left of our own accord,” he said in a text message to National Review that listed several other staff departures, including deputy finance director Caroline Winchester, political director John Kontoulas, political director Jackson Lohrer, and director of operations Patrick Riley.

A Robinson spokesman who is still with the campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the departures.

This post has been updated.