Citing Robinson's nomination, Connecticut aims to poach NC companies
Some Connecticut lawmakers are hoping to lure businesses away from North Carolina by highlighting controversial rhetoric of a high-profile North Carolina politician.
Democratic Senate leaders in the Nutmeg State wrote to officials in Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development, urging them to “explore opportunities to attract businesses from the state of North Carolina to relocate to Connecticut.” They cited North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s Republican gubernatorial nomination, his history of inflammatory comments about LGBTQ people and women, and his desire to restrict abortion access as the impetus for the effort.
“We are constantly looking for chances to diversify and strengthen our state's economy, and we believe there is a unique opportunity to reach out to businesses in North Carolina,” Connecticut Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney and other legislative leaders said Monday in the letter to economic developers.
North Carolina has been ranked the best in the nation for business for two straight years by CNBC. Robinson’s campaign brushed off the letter, pointing to efforts by North Carolina Republican lawmakers to make the state more attractive to businesses.
“Who cares what these northeastern liberals have to say?” Mike Lonergan, a spokesman for Robinson’s campaign, said in a statement. “Since they took control of Connecticut, Democrats raised taxes and spending, creating a parade of jobs and businesses packing up and leaving their state. They should stop with silly PR stunts like this and take a page from North Carolina conservatives’ book — cut taxes on families and businesses, reduce burdensome regulations, and stop wasteful government spending.”
Connecticut’s pitch
The Connecticut lawmakers’ letter is the latest from Democrats — and some Republicans — suggesting that populist views from right-wing Republicans could hurt the state’s ability to compete for corporate expansions and relocations. Robinson will face Democrat Josh Stein in the November election for governor.
The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, which in the past has spent millions of dollars backing GOP candidates, said a rightward shift in the state’s March 5 primary elections was "a startling warning of the looming threats to North Carolina’s business climate.”
“Many of the races we were watching turned for candidates that do not share our vision for North Carolina,” the chamber wrote in a newsletter, which didn’t single out Robinson by name. The chamber made a number of other endorsements in the primary but not in the governor’s race, a decision a spokesperson said is typical of past years, too.
Robinson’s two main challengers in the GOP primary, attorney Bill Graham and State Treasurer Dale Folwell, each attacked Robinson over his history of controversial comments. “North Carolina is the best state for business right now, and I think the voters want to hand the keys to this car to someone who can improve on our standing,” Folwell told WRAL last year.
Republican voters, for the most part, haven’t seemed to mind; Robinson won the GOP nomination with nearly twice as many votes as both challengers combined.
The LGBTQ community is a frequent target of Robinson’s speeches; he said last year that “God formed me” to fight against the push for LGBTQ rights and visibility. He has also questioned whether women can be leaders, whether the Holocaust was as bad as is commonly accepted, and whether Jewish bankers secretly control much of the world economy.
“These remarks not only undermine the values of inclusivity and tolerance of our nation, but should also raise significant concerns about the business environment and social climate in North Carolina under potential leadership that condones or ignores such divisive rhetoric,” the Connecticut lawmakers’ letter said. “In contrast, Connecticut prides itself on its commitment to diversity, equality, and fostering an environment where businesses can thrive while upholding ethical standards and respect for all.”
Policy, not rhetoric
For decades, North Carolina has been a magnet for companies from high-cost regions, attracted by the state’s low tax rates, business-friendly labor laws, proximity to international and interstate travel, research universities and a deep pool of educated professionals.
And it’s not uncommon for state leaders to try to capitalize on another state’s political drama. Last year, North Carolina Democrats proposed luring The Walt Disney Co. out of Florida as it faced increased scrutiny from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials.
Relocation experts and economists say it would take more than just campaign rhetoric to cause companies to overlook North Carolina’s favorable business climate.
Uprooting a company is an expensive and disruptive endeavor, and relocating a company from North Carolina to the northeast would likely increase the cost of business, all things being equal. The median household income in Connecticut was about $90,200 in 2022 — about 36% more than the median in North Carolina, according to the U.S. Census.
“Businesses looking at locating, when they look in North Carolina, they're going to look at broad policies: tax policy, wage policy, educational policy, [economic] incentives,” said N.C. State University economist Mike Walden. “… It's going to be policy that they're focused on, not campaign discussions.”
Companies might rethink their investment in North Carolina if employees cite Robinson’s comments as a reason for leaving the company or for passing up job offers to take jobs in other states.
While employers are often concerned with a state’s corporate taxes and regulations, employees want to live in states where they can feel at home, said Connecticut Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, who signed the letter to his state’s economic developers.
“Sometimes business executives are a little reluctant to dip their toe into politics, but they have to be in a place where the employees want to be and the employees want to be where they are valued,” Duff told WRAL on Wednesday. “And here in Connecticut, we value all of our residents. We don't discriminate based on who you are or who you love.”
He added: “We're moving forward in our state. North Carolina has the potential of really moving backwards over the next four years.”
Stein, North Carolina’s current attorney general, issued a similar warning after winning the Democratic gubernatorial nomination this month. “You better believe that Robinson's extreme views would scare away business and good paying jobs,” Stein told supporters. “We've been down this road before here.”
The bathroom bill
Businesses, musical artists and athletic leagues boycotted North Carolina in 2016 after the state’s Republican-led legislature passed a law limiting which restrooms transgender people could use.
PayPal and Deutsche Bank canceled planned expansions that would’ve created 650 new jobs in the state, citing their opposition to the law, known by its bill number, HB2, or the “bathroom bill.” Some Democratic-led states banned their employees from traveling to North Carolina for conferences, meetings or other business. And following cancellations of concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and others — on top of the loss of a planned NBA All Star game in Charlotte, plus NCAA events including the March Madness college basketball tournament — the law was estimated to have cost hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to the state’s economy.
The economic and political backlash ended with the law largely taken off the books a year later.
The backlash was so severe that voters ousted Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who signed the bill into law and served as its most public defender. McCrory had won in a landslide in 2012 but lost a close election in 2016 to Democratic challenger Roy Cooper, whose campaign focused largely on HB2. After Cooper took office, he worked with the same Republican-led legislature that passed HB2 to negotiate a partial repeal, which ended the boycotts.
Robinson and Stein are in a statistical tie, according to a WRAL News poll of likely voters. It showed Stein with 44% support and Robinson with 42% support, with 15% still undecided.
The polling also showed that Republicans were more likely than Democrats to list the economy as a top concern of theirs for this year’s election, WRAL reported. Democrats also reported feeling mostly optimistic about their personal financial future; Republicans were mostly pessimistic.
Political observers will be watching to see if business sentiment toward North Carolina shifts, and whether that will ultimately sway undecided voters.
If it shifts for the worse, Connecticut will be waiting with its pitch: “Connecticut is an open and welcoming community, proud to protect our socially progressive values and boasting an incredible quality of life,” Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner-designate Dan O’Keefe said in a statement. “ … We invite companies of any size to come to Connecticut and make it here.”
WRAL State Government Editor Jack Hagel contributed to this article.
