Outgoing North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who lost his bid for governor this month, said he is still deciding what his next step will be.

But the Republican said another run for office — including the U.S. Senate in 2026 — is unlikely. Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who endorsed another candidate over Robinson in the gubernatorial race, is running for reelection.

Other WRAL Top Stories

"That is not on my radar at all," Robinson said Wednesday during a break in the Senate session. "Running for office is not on my radar at all. Certainly not."

Robinson, who lost to Democrat Josh Stein by nearly 15 percentage points, said he did not know his future plans when his term ends in January.

"We've got a lot of things on the table," Robinson said. "We're taking a look at a lot of things. We're adding up a lot of numbers and looking at things and we'll decide that at the beginning of the year."

Senate Republicans are prepared to vote on a House-passed bill that would shift powers away from the governor and attorney general — both positions won by Democrats in the election. The most notable change would allow the state auditor to appoint members to the State Board of Elections. Republican Dave Boliek was elected auditor.

With Gov. Roy Cooper in Washington, D.C., Robinson is the state's acting governor. He said he did not plan to use that responsibility to sign the legislation.

"We don't have any plans to do that," he said.

Robinson was not enthusiastic about moving powers around.

"This is completely up to the legislature," he said. "My time here is about to be done. I'm not going to tell you that it's something I'm necessarily against, but I'm not necessarily for it, either.

"Certainly the Republicans in this body are trying to protect their interests. And I think that if the shoe was on the other foot, I think the Democrats would probably do the same thing if they could. In fact, they've done it in the past. And so, it's just politics as usual."

Robinson said he was not sure if the legislature would be pursuing some of the same changes had he been elected governor.