NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson announces 2024 bid for governor, setting up GOP primary battle
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson said Saturday he will run for governor in 2024, ending months of speculation over whether he would seek the state’s top executive office and kick-starting a battle for the GOP nomination — one that is likely to focus on whether he’s too extreme for moderate voters.
His opponents will call him a bigot and hypocrite, Robinson said during his campaign announcement Saturday, but that’s just because they’re scared of him and his working-class messaging.
"We the people deserve to be represented by someone who has lived like we have," Robinson told hundreds of supporters gathered at a rally in Alamance County.
State Treasurer Dale Fowell is so far the only other official Republican candidate for governor. Others, including U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, may also join the race.
In a wide ranging speech at a podium with a red placard saying "Mark Robinson, governor," Robinson touched on his beliefs that taxes are too high, public schools are indoctrinating children, police need more support and abortion should be outlawed.
He also sought to portray himself as someone who understands the struggles of everyday people. He grew up poor, sometimes on the edge of homelessness, and faced financial struggles as an adult, too. He has filed for bankruptcy multiple times and had liens on his house from the IRS for failing to pay taxes.
But while many of those things could be seen as scandals that might sink a candidate for the state’s highest office, Robinson said it just shows he’s authentic.
"We the people of North Carolina need someone who understands us," he said to cheers of several hundred supporters. "We don't need another politician who's spent their life climbing the political ladder. We need a public servant, someone who's actually lived through the struggles of everyday North Carolinians. I know what it's like to grow up poor, in a household mired by alcoholism, violence and uncertainty."
Robinson, a political newcomer when he won election in 2020, is known for his far-right views and bombastic rhetoric at events across the state and at high-profile gatherings of influential conservatives, such as National Rifle Association conventions and the Conservative Political Action Conference. His style and stances have also earned him comparisons to former President Donald Trump, who has praised Robinson and called him a friend.
With 80’s music blasting and dozens of American flags flapping in the breeze, the scene ahead of Robinson's event was similar to Trump rallies, which many of the attendees Saturday had attended in the past. Supporters milled around the tents selling pro-gun and anti-communist posters or “Mark Robinson for Governor” shirts.
Like Trump, Robinson’s support isn’t unanimous in the GOP even if it is widespread. In recent days both Folwell and Walker have suggested Robinson may not be able to win a general election.
“It's OK to tell people what you believe without offending them,” Folwell wrote on Twitter Saturday as Robinson’s rally was underway. “Voters want the real thing.”
Walker wrote in a text message to WRAL News that the people asking him to jump into the race want “a Republican who can hold up under the scrutiny a candidate for governor will undergo.”
But Robinson has a multimillion-dollar campaign apparatus, and passionate support among the evangelical Christians and pro-gun activists who make up a big chunk of GOP primary voters.
Even as rain lashed the field where Robinson’s rally was held, hardly anyone left. Robinson laughed off the downpour when it picked up midway through his speech, quipping: "The devil is angry at me."
GOP support, Democrats' response
Some of the state’s most high-profile Republican politicians were also in attendance, including Senate Leader Phil Berger.
"It's time to restore the governor's mansion for working families," U.S. Rep Dan Bishop of North Carolina said in a video message played at the rally at Ace Speedway. "That's why I'm endorsing Mark Robinson for governor. Starting right now, I'm encouraging everyone to rally behind him to make our state stronger than ever. It won't be easy, and it won't be cheap. So let's get to work."
The choice of venue was symbolic: Ace Speedway is known for its repeated, intentional violations of COVID-19 shutdown orders in the early days of the pandemic. Based on recent remarks Robinson has given, continued opposition to pandemic-era actions by the government could be a big part of his campaign.
A history of controversial — and sometimes conspiratorial — statements have energized Robinson’s most conservative supporters, but they could also serve as fodder for his opponents. In particular, Robinson’s antisemitic and homophobic statements, as well as his hardline views on abortion, have worried some in his party who think those stances are too far right to win a primary, let alone a general election in a swing state.
Folwell, the other GOP candidate, was a high-ranking legislator when the GOP took control of the legislature following the Tea Party wave of 2010. He’s been the state’s top financial official since 2016. He has avoided attacking Robinson directly, but he has repeated a specific refrain ever since announcing.
“My track record is attacking problems, not people,” Folwell said in an interview Wednesday.
Robinson acknowledged Saturday that his speeches have gotten him in trouble in the past. He kicked off his speech by telling his crew to turn off his teleprompter so he could go off script — but quickly said he was just joking, trying to give his campaign manager a heart attack.
Shortly after his announcement, the state Democratic party called Robinson dangerous for the state.
“Mark Robinson is an extremist who has built a legacy of division by spewing hate toward the LGBTQ community, disrespecting women, putting culture wars ahead of classrooms, and pushing to ban abortion with no exceptions,” Anderson Clayton, the state Democratic Party chair, said in a statement. “We need a Governor who will expand opportunities for working families and uphold our fundamental rights — not a dangerous politician whose reckless policies would kill jobs and threaten North Carolinians’ future.”
'Right wing culture wars'
During his speech, Robinson listed off some standard conservative lines about lowering taxes and favoring small government, but he said he's also in favor of growing state government investment in some areas. A former factory worker himself, he said the state needs to do more to boost community colleges and train people in trades and skilled labor.
"We've got to undo the narrative that the only way to success is a four-year degree," he said.
Robinson’s ability to energize conservatives through bombastic speeches makes him the favorite to emerge as the primary victor should he decide to run.
A survey late last year of likely Republican primary voters looked at hypothetical match-ups between Robinson and other potential GOP candidates for 2024. Almost 60% of likely GOP primary voters would opt for Robinson, while about 6% said they’d vote for Folwell, according to the poll released by GOP political consulting group The Differentiators. Thirty-four percent were undecided.
A primary win could lead to a showdown against Democratic hopeful Attorney General Josh Stein, who announced plans to run in January and is considered a favorite to win his party’s nomination. Robinson and Stein have been amassing war chests suggestive of such a contest.
When Stein announced his campaign, his campaign kickoff video not only touted his own candidacy but also harshly criticized Robinson’s history of inflammatory rhetoric. And on Saturday, Stein said that while Robinson wants to paint himself as a fighter, Stein has a years-long record of fighting — and winning — big battles for the state. As attorney general, he has won lawsuits and legal settlements on issues such as the opioid epidemic, teen vaping and robocalls.
“Next year, the people of North Carolina have a crystal clear choice,” Stein said in a video. “Will we elect as our governor someone who fights for us? Or someone who fights the culture wars?”
GOP insiders have said Robinson’s comments about the LGBTQ community in particular could hurt his chances to become governor and potentially hinder North Carolina's ability to recruit businesses. The state’s top Democrat agrees.
“We see the kinds of positions that [Robinson] has taken that are wrong for North Carolina,” Democratic Gov Roy Cooper, who is term-limited and can’t run again in next year’s election, told reporters at a Durham event on Friday. “His campaign is all about igniting right wing culture wars that we have seen hurt people and our economy. And he's wrong for North Carolina.”
Robinson acknowledged in his speech that his comments have gotten him in trouble in the past. More recently, he has dialed back some of the more divisive rhetoric in his speeches, and he has begun to focus a little more on issues that might appeal to a wider range of voters.
Despite his detractors, Robinson is pushing ahead. He previously said he was “95% sure” he would run for governor. The extra 5% came emphatically Saturday.
As the first Black Republican to win any major office in North Carolina since the 1800s — and one of only a few Black politicians of any party to ever win a statewide race — he says he is the embodiment of the American dream, someone who has defied the odds.
“I was supposed to be crushed by racism as a Black man in the South,” he said. “I was supposed to lose my election for lieutenant governor. Now here I stand the first Black lieutenant governor of North Carolina. I now hold the second-highest office in the state. I'm a man who just last year finished his undergrad degree in history after starting it 30 years ago.”
“Now I have the chance,” he added, “to be the first Black governor of North Carolina.”
