Tar Heel GOP Ultra-- Wacko—GOP Gubernatorial Nominee Mark Robinson March 17, 2024
And the GOP keeps doing it again and again. Their Trumpist primary voters select nominees up and down their ticket who are, in Demagogue Donald’s words about the Charlottesville racists, “very fine people” (NOT). Here’s the latest example. On Super Tuesday, March 5, 2024, North Carolina GOP primary voters picked Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson (55) to be their gubernatorial nominee to succeed Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in the November, 2024 general election. Democratic Tar Heelers nominated Attorney General Josh Stein (57) to go for the Governor’s chair against GOPer Robinson. If elected, analysts noted that both of these individuals would break new ground in NC. GOPer Robinson would be the first Tar Heel Black Governor, while Democratic Stein would be that state’s first Jewish governor (nytimes.com., Medina, E., 3/04/24). However, there is much more to this contest than racial and religious differences. In a closely watched swing state, these nominees represent two very opposing views in current U.S. politics. GOPer Robinson is an extremist MAGA follower of Demagogue Donald, while Democrat Stein is a strong member of the “Team Blue” camp. Let’s take a look at this key race.
Greensboro, North Carolina native Mark Robinson is the ninth of ten children. Robinson stated that his father was an abusive alcoholic and that he and his family were victims of domestic violence. Robinson and his siblings lived in foster care for part of their childhood, before they moved back with their mother. His mother worked as a custodian (carolinajournal.com, 10/12/22). After graduating high school, he served in the Army Reserve and later attended North Carolina A&T State University. Robinson worked in several NC furniture factories. During that time, he took history classes at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with the aim of getting a degree and becoming a history teacher (WRAL-TV, Anderson, B., 9/18/22).
Robinson attributed his interest in American conservative politics to his reading a book written by the late right-wing icon Rush Limbaugh. After reading this book, Robinson stated that he “found out that I was conservative and always had been (WRAL-TV, Anderson).” On 4/03/2018, Robinson attended a meeting of the Greensboro City Council. At that meeting, there was a debate about whether to cancel a gun show after the horrific Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School Florida gun massacre. Robinson spoke in favor of gun rights. The video of his speech went viral after it was shared on Facebook by former NC Rep. Mark Walker (Moffett, M., 4/10/18, newspapers.com, “News and Record”). After his speech went viral, Robinson dropped out of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and left his furniture manufacturing job. He decided to focus on public speaking. He was invited to speak at the NRA’s (National Rifle Association’s) 2018 annual convention (newsobserver.com, Doran, W., 3/6/20). In 2019, Robinson entered the GOP primary for NC Lt. Governor. He won the nomination in which he defeated several prominent GOPers including former Cong. Renee Elmers. In 2020, Robinson defeated fellow African American Democrat Yvonne Lewis Holley, a race in which either of them would become the Tar Heel State’s first Black Lt. Governor. He narrowly won this contest by a 3.26% margin (er.ncsbe.gov/contest, 3/06/20).
Robinson has right-wing views compatible with many state and national GOPers. He promotes climate change denial and opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana. He additionally wants to remove science and social studies from the first-through fifth-grade curriculum. He favors abolishing the State Board of Education, expanding charter schools, and pushing for school voucher programs. He wants to, in effect, supplant the public-school system (ivoterguide.com, wral.com, Anderson, B., 8/22/2022). He also opposes abortion, even though he helped his future wife get one before they were married. Robinson supports the “heart-beat” law that would ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, when many women still don’t realize that they are pregnant, (indyweek.com, Billman, J., 11/05/20, nytimes, Medina.com, 3/06/24).
Yet there is much more to Robinson’s profile, one that makes him an ultra-wacko extremist way beyond the American mainstream. Robinson proudly calls himself a “brash and unfiltered conservative culture warrior (jewishinsider.com, Kassel, M., 2/19/21).” Robinson’s “brash and unfiltered comments” are loaded with conspiracy theories. He has made repeated anti-Semitic remarks, anti-Black comments, and Islamophobic statements (wiki). Even before he ran for Lt. Governor, Robinson frequently made Facebook posts that invoked anti-Semitic stereotypes and downplayed the harms of Nazism. Robinson claimed that the Marvel movie “Black Panther” was “created by an agnostic Jew and put to film by satanic Marxists” that was “only created to pull the shekels out of your ‘Schvartze’ (a derogatory Yiddish term for Blacks) pockets (Billman, J., indyweek.com, Colin, C., 10/20/20, newsobserver.com).” In March, 2023, Facebook posts by Robinson emerged that engaged in blatant Holocaust denial, a key theme of modern anti-Semitism. These posts called the figure of the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust into question. Robinson wrote that, “this foolishness about Hitler disarming MILLIONS of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of ‘hogwash.’” He added that, “There is a REASON the liberal media fills the airwaves with programs about the NAZI and the ‘6 million Jews’ they murdered (jewishinsider.com, Kassel, M., 4/24/23, Cooper, A., jpost.com, 9/07/23).” Democrats, Republicans, and Jewish groups criticized Robinson’s horrible statements. Robinson refused to publicly apologize for these remarks (Cooper, A., 9/07/23).
And Robinson is bigoted not only against Jews. In a June, 2021 speech at a Seagrove, NC church, he attacked “transgenderism and homosexuality” as “filth.” Robinson further called for an end to the First Amendment separation of church and state in the public schools, a pillar that has kept our country strong (See cbs.17.com/news, Reeves, J., 10/07/21). Robinson was condemned by the Biden administration, his Democratic opponent Josh Stein, and Dem. Gov. Roy Cooper for these anti-gay/transphobic remarks (wiki).
And Robinson also showed clear hatred of his fellow Blacks as well. As we all should know by now, bigots rarely focus on hating just one group. Robinson referred to his own fellow Blacks as “muddle headed negroes,” “apes,” and a “monkey.” He called Martin Luther King Jr. a “communist” and “ersatz pastor (rawstory.com, Henderson, A., 1/15/24).” He accused American Muslims of being “INVADERS” who “refuse to assimilate to our ways while demanding respect they have not earned.” Robinson made light of the brutal attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul, and posted falsehoods about it (wiki, myfox8.com). In office, Robinson and Gov. Cooper rarely communicate with each other (wiki). Despite all these remarks, Robinson handily won his 2024 GOP primary. He easily beat his key rival by a 47.5% margin, 66% v. 18.5% (NC 2024 GOP primary). Robinson also endorses Donald’s false claims about election fraud, the “birther” conspiracy that Obama was not born in the U.S., and called former First Lady Michelle Obama a “man (Medina, nytimesl.com, 3/06/24).” You get the idea.
And here is Robinson’s Democratic opponent Josh Stein. A Washington D.C. native, Stein and his family moved to Charlotte, NC and then to Chapel Hill. He played on Chapel Hill High School’s state championship soccer team (newsobserver.com, Blythe, A., 4/29/18). Stein’s father, Adam Stein co-founded NC’s first integrated law firm which fought for equality. His father and his partners kept up their fight for civil rights even after extremists firebombed and burned their office to the ground (dailytarheel.com, 11/2015, google.com, 3/11/24). Josh Stein credits his parents with teaching him to fight for worthy causes despite the opposition (google.com, 3/11/24). Stein earned a 1988 Bachelor’s degree from Darthmouth College. He next taught English and economics in Zimbabwe. He received a law degree from Harvard Law School and earned a degree from the Kennedy School of Government (joshstein.org, 12/27/16). In the 1990’s, Stein interned for State Representative Dan Blue. He also worked for the Self-Help Credit Union and the North Carolina Minority Support Center (truthinitiative.org). In 1998, Stein managed the successful U.S. Senate campaign for Democrat John Edwards and served as Edwards’ deputy chief-of-staff from 1999-2000 (politico.com, Schneider, E., 1/18/23, “The News and Observer, 12/02/2000). In 2001, then NC Atty. General Roy Cooper appointed Stein as Senior Deputy Attorney General for Consumer Protection. He held that position until he was elected state senator in 2008 (WRAL, Anderson, B., 9/25/22, “The News and Observer,” 1/28/2009). After being re-elected to the NC State Senate in 2010, Stein was elected Minority Whip by his colleagues (newsobserver.com, 12/18/14). In the Tar Heel Senate, Stein worked to expand NC’s DNA database, ban cyberstalking, and improve school safety (“News and Observer,” Bonner, L., 7/09/10).
In 2016, Stein won his race to be NC’s Attorney General. He was re-elected in 2020 (jewishnc.org, 11/25/20, newsobserver.com). As Attorney General, Stein was recognized for his national bipartisan leadership in 2023 by the National Association of Attorneys General (naag.org, Scheider, S., 12/06/23). In this office, Stein worked to eliminate NC’s backlog of untested sexual assault kits, the largest in the country. Stein led a bipartisan group of Attorneys General in negotiating a national settlement with drug companies dealing with the nation’s opioid epidemic totaling more than $50 billion. Under Stein, NC won $1.5 billion of that share (ncopiodsettlement.org). Stein filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing in favor of Obamacare. In 2019, Stein was the first attorney general in the U.S. to sue e-cigarette manufacturer Juul for unlawful marketing to minors. He won multiple settlements with Juul totaling nearly $48 million that set a standard that the rest of the nation is following (Nazneen, A., ncdoj.gov, 12/07/23). Stein has filed briefs supporting abortion medications and opposing restrictions on women from traveling to receive healthcare. Stein opposed NC’s 12-week abortion ban enacted in 2023 (ABC 11 Raleigh-Durham, 5/17/23). He has fought to protect seniors from frauds and scams (wiki). He announced the investigation of nine NC-based sellers on Amazon who were accused of raising prices on coronavirus-related products such as hand sanitizers and N-95 masks. Stein has won more than $1 million in price-gouging cases (wnct.com., 3/29/20, ncdoj.gov, Nanzeen, A., 11/10/21). In his 2024 run for NC Governor, Stein has been endorsed by Gov. Roy Cooper along with hundreds of other elected officials and organizations (wiki). On March 5, 2024, Stein crushed his chief primary rival by a 52.6% margin, 66.9%- 14.3% (nytimes.com).
The key question remains—can Democrat Stein defeat super-extremist bigoted Mark Robinson? North Carolina is a very swingy state in both national and local elections. Despite the absurd comments by GOP nominee Robinson, current polls show the race statistically tied (google.com, 3/11/24). No Democrat has nationally won the presidency in the Tar Heel State since 2008. Biden lost to Trump here by 1 point (Cohen & Cook 2022 Political Almanac). The two most recent U.S. Senate races have been very close, but again, the GOPers took these contests. True, in the gubernatorial contests, Tar Heel voters have put Democrats in the Governor’s chair, but some of those races were absolute nail-biters. In his first race for Gov., Roy Cooper narrowly ousted Gov. Pat McCrory by less than a point (Cohen & Cook 2022). Democrats have strength in the Research Triangle area of the state and in university towns like Chapel Hill. Many highly educated newcomers leaning toward the Democrats have also come into the state. There is a strongly growing Jewish community as well. “Team Blue” has many Black voters. However, GOPers have turned the western part of the state and the eastern one into their bases. Under Trump, these sections have come out strongly while Black voting has lagged (Cohen & Cook 2022, nytimes.com, King & Nehamas, 3/11/24). With African American Robinson in the governor’s race, the GOP hopes to tear away some Black voters from the Democratic side. Stein and his fellow Democrats must hammer away at how bigoted and extreme Robinson is and get an extremely strong turnout. Nothing can be taken for granted.