North Carolina Lt. Governor, Republican Mark Robinson, is facing increasingly long odds in his bid to become the state's governor, especially after a string of controversies including the making of salacious comments on a pornography website and calling himself a "black NAZI."
All recent polls show him trailing his Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Josh Stein, by more than 10 percentage points. The latest one featured in FiveThirtyEight's aggregator shows him ahead of Robinson by 13 points.
Conducted by ActiVote between September 5 and October 5 among 400 likely voters, it shows the Democrat with 57% of the support, compared to Robinson's 44%. The result is not an outlier. All surveys released in the last week of September show a similar picture.
Since the scandal surrounding Robinson surfaced, the candidate has also seen the departure of top aides including top adviser Conrad Pogorzelski; Chris Rodriguez, campaign manager; Heather Whillier, finance director; and Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager. Brian LiVecchi, his chief of staff and general counsel, has also resigned. Overall, more than a dozen aides of his, both from his campaign and his current staff, have left him.
He has also seen pushback from fellow Republicans in the state, who have called him to back his claims that the reports are a media fabrication. Senators representing the state, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, made the calls, with the former saying that "if the reporting on Mark Robinson is a total media fabrication, he needs to take immediate legal action."
State party chair Jason Simmons, on his end, said in a statement that the accusations are "deeply troubling" and "he needs to explain them to the people of North Carolina." Robinson has not filed lawsuits related to the allegations. He fervently denies them and said in late September that he is considering "everything up to legal counsel to take CNN to task for what they have done to us.
Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Robinson and praised over the years, even calling him "Martin Luther King on steroids," has not commented on the reports and did not have him on recent rallies in the state.
User data reviewed by POLITICO indicates that an account reportedly belonging to Robinson on the pornographic website "Nude Africa" was accessed from a location near his home. Additionally, Robinson's email address was found registered on multiple dating websites, including Fling and Ashley Madison (used for people seeking extramarital affairs) according to previously unreported findings.
Other allegations from a CNN report include include claims from a CNN report that he identified as a "black NAZI," viewed transgender pornography, and made explicit comments on sexual preferences more than a decade ago on Nude Africa.
The Republican Governors Association has not placed additional ad reservations on Robinson's behalf after spending some $16 million, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. His opponent, Democrat Josh Stein still has booked $13 million worth of adds in the coming weeks.
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