My phone is blowing up today with calls and texts from Republican sources in North Carolina who are waiting with bated breath about a huge story CNN that is reportedly about to drop on this year’s GOP gubernatorial nominee, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson.
Hearing big story about to drop on Mark Robinson…#ncpol
— Audrey Fahlberg (@AudreyFahlberg) September 19, 2024
The CNN article focuses on unsavory comments Robinson made in several online chatrooms, according to sources familiar with the material.
If what I’m hearing is correct, this story will nuke Robinson’s already dwindling chances of flipping termed-out Democratic governor Roy Cooper’s seat. Today is the drop-out deadline in North Carolina, though ballots are already being printed. Robinson spokesman Michael Lonergan tells National Review it’s “complete fiction” that the lieutenant governor will drop out of the governor’s race.
Confirming all of this. From what I’ve heard this one’s a real doozy and pertains to comments Robinson made on online chat rooms, tho the story could be about something else as well…#ncpol
Republicans across state waiting with bated breath for this story to drop https://t.co/DrrwDUyvpa
— Audrey Fahlberg (@AudreyFahlberg) September 19, 2024
Reminder that Republicans have long worried about this exact scenario playing out. That roster of concerned Republicans includes North Carolina senator Thom Tillis, who endorsed one of Robinson’s primary challengers back in December in an interview with NR.
Here’s some of my reporting from January 2023 in The Dispatch:
North Carolina Republicans continue to feel uneasy about their party’s current gubernatorial frontrunner, firebrand Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. But no coherent strategy yet exists to knock him out in a primary.
Those with concerns about Robinson fear his controversial views, as well as his checkered personal and campaign finance history, will alienate suburban and independent voters in 2024 as Republicans try to flip the the gubernatorial seat of term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
And many Republicans know Democrats have amassed an opposition research file that could be leaked at any time. Even Robinson seems worried about more potentially damaging revelations.
“I know there’s probably a lot of stuff out there swirling around …People are trying to put doubt in the air about our campaign, about me, but none of that stuff is true, I guarantee you,” Robinson said in a voicemail he left for a prospective Republican donor on Thursday, obtained by The Dispatch. “We’re ready to take this challenge on. And I believe that we are the candidate.”
This story has been updated.