NC governor’s race: When and how Robinson’s campaign staff quit
Welcome to the governor’s race edition of our Under the Dome politics newsletter. I’m Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief.
There was an exodus of campaign and official staff for the Republican candidate for governor, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, in the wake of the bombshell CNN report in September, which he denies.
The News & Observer has learned more about how his staff left, and asked Robinson about it as well.
Robinson staff quit after he rejected offers to clear allegations
A source familiar with the campaign and LG office departures told The N&O that the campaign staff quit during a meeting with Robinson about the status of the campaign, on the Sunday after the CNN report.
Robinson had turned down multiple offers from staffers over multiple days, before the meeting, to use technology to help clear him of the allegations in the CNN report, the source says. A few days after the campaign staff quit, so did half of his official staff.
WRAL-TV first reported Robinson turned down offers for IT help to respond to CNN’s allegations that he made hateful, racist and sexually explicit comments on a pornographic website, including referring to himself as a “Black NAZI” and supporting the return of slavery.
Robinson spokesperson Mike Lonergan denied that to WRAL. “That is entirely false. Lt. Gov. Robinson is in the process of retaining aggressive legal counsel to investigate who did this and how; we will leave no stone unturned, and will use every legal means to hold CNN and whomever else is involved accountable,” Lonergan said.
While Robinson hired a law firm and said he was going to sue CNN soon, the campaign has not yet announced a lawsuit.
Robinson has spent the past few weeks back out on the campaign trail and helping the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office with Hurricane Helene relief efforts in Western North Carolina.
In a speech to voters at a campaign event in a Dollar General parking lot in Hillsborough on Oct. 4, Robinson criticized his opponent in the governor’s race, Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, for various things. Taking questions from reporters at the campaign event, Robinson didn’t want to talk about the recent departures.
Nearly all of his campaign staff quit within days of the CNN story, and a few days after that, half of the lieutenant governor’s office staff also quit, including top officials.
At the campaign event, I asked Robinson how the departures came about, and if he asked his office staff to stay.
“No, I didn’t ask them to stay. They chose to leave. The term is coming to an end. They chose to move on, and we moved on as well,” Robinson said, then criticized being asked about it the week after the storm, going on to say that the Franklin County sheriff deserves more recognition.
“You like to highlight what was supposedly said 15 years ago on some website or something, that I didn’t say, but let’s highlight the fact that there’s been a very poor response to [Helene], and people are suffering because of it,” Robinson told reporters.
The N&O and our colleagues at the Charlotte Observer have reported extensively on all aspects of storm relief and recovery. You can read our dozens of stories at newsobserver.com/topics/helene-nc and in print.
Berger didn’t want to talk about Robinson; Moore focused on own race
Robinson presided over the Senate session on Wednesday, when senators unanimously passed a Helene relief bill that Cooper then signed into law on Thursday.
It was the first legislative session since the CNN fallout for Robinson. Reporters talking to Senate leader Phil Berger on the floor after session asked him about the scandal, and if Berger would keep his endorsement of Robinson.
Berger told reporters he’d answer the question “at some other point” and wanted to talk about the Helene relief bill that day.
I also asked House Speaker Tim Moore during his post-session talk with reporters if he still endorsed Robinson after the CNN report and the staff departures.
Here’s what Moore said:
“I’m not going to change my endorsement,” Moore said. “I’ve had a conversation with him. He tells me that those allegations aren’t true. And so I’ve not drilled down, or cross-examined or anything like that, but my focus is on, really is on, of course, I’m running for Congress. I have my own race. I’m trying to help Laurie Buckhout, who’s running (for Congress) in northeastern North Carolina, which is the really one competitive seat in North Carolina. And still as the speaker of the House, I’m focused on ensuring that the members running in here are in good shape, and that we maintain our supermajority.”
I asked about Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis saying that Robinson should show evidence to disprove it or sue over it.
“I don’t know what else to say about it,” Moore said. “I’ve just, I’ve talked to him, he’s made his statements. I know he hired counsel to try to work through it, and I suspect that that process will take care of itself. And I think that, you know, the lieutenant governor has answered questions, has made his statements, and I’ll leave it to him to make those statements and to run his race, and I’ve really got to focus on my race and the races of the state House.”
That same afternoon, one of Robinson’s social media posts criticized Republicans, but didn’t specify who he was referencing.
“If Republicans opposed radical leftists as much as they opposed each other, imagine how much more successful we would be. Cut the intra-party crap and vote for Republicans up and down the ballot. This isn’t about personality, it’s about policy,” Robinson wrote.
The General Assembly has another session scheduled before the election. They will reconvene on Oct. 24 to pass more Helene relief.
Stay informed about #ncpol
Don’t forget to follow our Under the Dome tweets and listen to our Under the Dome podcast to stay up to date. Our new episode posts Monday morning, and I’m joined by my legislative team colleagues Kyle Ingram and Avi Bajpai to talk more about the Helene relief bill and what’s coming next.
We also have an Under the Dome: Live! event coming up, recording the podcast in front of an audience. I’ll be interviewing N.C. Central University political science professor Jarvis Hall as part of an election preview. It starts at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 21 in the School of Education Auditorium on the NCCU campus in Durham. Register online for the event.
You can sign up to receive the Under the Dome newsletter at newsobserver.com/newsletters. Want your friends to get our email, too? Forward them this newsletter so they can sign up. You can also email me questions you may have about the governor’s race at dvaughan@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published October 13, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC governor’s race: When and how Robinson’s campaign staff quit."
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