Robinson loses key outside support as RGA suggests it won’t spend any more on race for North Carolina governor
National Republican groups are pulling financial support for Mark Robinson, the party’s scandal-plagued nominee in the North Carolina governor’s race, as he tries to weather the fallout from a CNN report on inflammatory comments he made on a porn website.
In a statement Monday, the Republican Governors Association acknowledged that after its current media buy expires on Tuesday, “no further placements have been made.”
“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 remains committed to electing Republican Governors all across the country,” RGA communications director Courtney Alexander said in a statement.
The decision came after former President Donald Trump did not once mention Robinson during a weekend campaign rally in the Tar Heel State – an indication of how quickly the party is attempting to distance itself from a man Trump had once compared to Martin Luther King Jr.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, was campaigning Monday in Charlotte – signaling that Republicans cannot ignore a state that is crucial to Trump’s path to 270 electoral college votes, even with its gubernatorial nominee mired in controversy.
Robinson also returned to the campaign trail on Monday, the day after his campaign confirmed that several top operatives had quit, including his campaign manager, his top consultant and the leaders of his fundraising and political teams.
Their departures followed a CNN report revealed inflammatory comments Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, made on a pornography website message board over a decade ago. The lewd comments included Robinson describing himself as a “black Nazi” and how he used to go “peeping” on women at a public gym when he was 14 years old.
The North Carolina Republican Party is standing behind Robinson, issuing a statement Thursday noting that he’d denied making those comments. And Vance told NBC 10 Philadelphia on Saturday that “allegations aren’t necessarily reality.”
“It’s ultimately up to Mark Robinson and North Carolina whether he’s going to be their governor and whether he wants to stay in the race. I’ll let them make that decision,” Vance said.
Still, a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted mostly before the CNN report was published found Robinson trailing his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, by 10 percentage points — an indication that the bombastic lieutenant governor already faced an uphill battle to win the governor’s office.
That’s likely to become even more difficult without air cover from national Republicans.
Through Tuesday, the RGA and its affiliated PAC had combined to spend almost $16 million on the North Carolina governors race, one of the most competitive gubernatorial contests of the cycle. Spending from those national Republican committees had continued up to this week, with the groups combining for more than $1 million worth of ad time per week since July.
Outside spending from those Republican groups, in addition to a series of Democratic outside groups, helped push the contest to rank as the most expensive gubernatorial contest of the year. Since the primary on March 5, through today, the parties – including campaigns and outside groups – had combined to spend nearly $87 million on the race, Democrats outspending Republicans by about $57.9 million to $28.7 million.
With national Republicans pulling out of the race, that disparity is set to expand over the final weeks of the race. From this Wednesday through Election Day, Democrats have $12.5 million worth of ad time booked, while Republicans currently have no future ad time reserved. Robinson’s campaign has spent $10.6 million on advertising since the primary, but doesn’t have any future ad buys as of today.
CNN’s Dianne Gallagher and Kit Maher contributed to this report.
In a statement Monday, the Republican Governors Association acknowledged that after its current media buy expires on Tuesday, “no further placements have been made.”
“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 remains committed to electing Republican Governors all across the country,” RGA communications director Courtney Alexander said in a statement.
The decision came after former President Donald Trump did not once mention Robinson during a weekend campaign rally in the Tar Heel State – an indication of how quickly the party is attempting to distance itself from a man Trump had once compared to Martin Luther King Jr.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, was campaigning Monday in Charlotte – signaling that Republicans cannot ignore a state that is crucial to Trump’s path to 270 electoral college votes, even with its gubernatorial nominee mired in controversy.
Robinson also returned to the campaign trail on Monday, the day after his campaign confirmed that several top operatives had quit, including his campaign manager, his top consultant and the leaders of his fundraising and political teams.
Their departures followed a CNN report revealed inflammatory comments Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, made on a pornography website message board over a decade ago. The lewd comments included Robinson describing himself as a “black Nazi” and how he used to go “peeping” on women at a public gym when he was 14 years old.
The North Carolina Republican Party is standing behind Robinson, issuing a statement Thursday noting that he’d denied making those comments. And Vance told NBC 10 Philadelphia on Saturday that “allegations aren’t necessarily reality.”
“It’s ultimately up to Mark Robinson and North Carolina whether he’s going to be their governor and whether he wants to stay in the race. I’ll let them make that decision,” Vance said.
Still, a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted mostly before the CNN report was published found Robinson trailing his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, by 10 percentage points — an indication that the bombastic lieutenant governor already faced an uphill battle to win the governor’s office.
That’s likely to become even more difficult without air cover from national Republicans.
Through Tuesday, the RGA and its affiliated PAC had combined to spend almost $16 million on the North Carolina governors race, one of the most competitive gubernatorial contests of the cycle. Spending from those national Republican committees had continued up to this week, with the groups combining for more than $1 million worth of ad time per week since July.
Outside spending from those Republican groups, in addition to a series of Democratic outside groups, helped push the contest to rank as the most expensive gubernatorial contest of the year. Since the primary on March 5, through today, the parties – including campaigns and outside groups – had combined to spend nearly $87 million on the race, Democrats outspending Republicans by about $57.9 million to $28.7 million.
With national Republicans pulling out of the race, that disparity is set to expand over the final weeks of the race. From this Wednesday through Election Day, Democrats have $12.5 million worth of ad time booked, while Republicans currently have no future ad time reserved. Robinson’s campaign has spent $10.6 million on advertising since the primary, but doesn’t have any future ad buys as of today.
CNN’s Dianne Gallagher and Kit Maher contributed to this report.