North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein defeated scandal-plagued Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the state’s gubernatorial race, NBC News projects, keeping the seat in Democrats’ hands.
Stein had been the clear favorite to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in the battleground state after a campaign that was defined by Robinson’s long history of inflammatory statements.
In September, CNN reported that Robinson had made comments on a porn website over a decade ago in which he called himself a “black NAZI,” expressed support for bringing back slavery and recounted sexually graphic stories, including one about his memory of “peeping” on women in gym showers when he was 14.
Robinson has denied that he wrote the comments. But in the days after CNN’s story was published, several key staffers resigned from his campaign, while the Republican Governors Association confirmed it would no longer run ads backing Robinson. Former President Donald Trump did not pull his endorsement of Robinson, but he did not appear with him on the campaign trail following the report.
Democrats had already been using Robinson’s litany of past controversial remarks to cast him as extreme on abortion, education and LGBTQ issues.
In a speech to supporters after the race was called, Robinson conceded defeat while nodding to media attention his past comments garnered during the campaign.
“It’s not about the lies. It’s not about the half-truths,” he said of his failed campaign. It’s about the people who believe in you.”
“I stand here strong and proud — glad to have run a race that was upright and decent,” Robinson said.
“Victory is pleasing God, and sometimes in order to please God, you have to lose,” Robinson said.
Stein’s campaign ran ads highlighting Robinson’s comments calling abortion “murder” and “genocide” on his personal Facebook page in 2018.
In other Facebook comments on a livestream from 2019, Robinson said abortion “is not about protecting the lives of mothers. … It is about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
Democrats also pointed to comments Robinson made in 2023 calling public school teachers “wicked people” and telling parents not to send their children to public schools.
Stein’s victory was boosted by female voters, college-educated voters and independents, a key group needed for victories in battleground races.
Sixty-one percent of voters in the state who identify as independents voted for Stein, while just 35% of those voters cast their ballots for Robinson, according to the NBC News exit poll.
Another 13% of Republicans crossed party lines to cast their ballots for Stein, a much higher share than the amount of Democrats who said they voted for Robinson — just 2%.
And while 63% of female voters in the state cast their ballots for Stein, while just 34% of women pulled the lever for Robinson. Among men, the result was more evenly split, with 50% of male voters selecting Stein and 47% of male voters voting for Robinson, according to the exit poll.
Stein, who previously served in the state Senate, will be North Carolina’s first Jewish governor.
He campaigned on his plans to improve K-12 education in the state by investing in teachers and addressing staffing shortages in schools. He was also vocal on the campaign trail in his opposition to the state’s 12-week abortion ban.
Stein touted his work as attorney general to clear a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits and collaboration with other state attorneys general to negotiate settlements with prescription opioid distributors amid the opioid and fentanyl epidemic.
Adam Edelman contributed.
