The Fox News Decision Desk projects Democratic North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein to win the state’s gubernatorial election against Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
The high-stakes election pitted the progressive candidate, Stein, who was backed by term-limited Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper to fill his current seat, and Robinson, whose meteoric political career launched in 2018 after an impassioned speech about the Second Amendment in a viral video.
The Robinson campaign was rocked by scandal weeks ago when a local news outlet reported on Sept. 3 that Robinson allegedly routinely visited porn shops, viewing materials in a private booth, according to former employees and customers. Robinson’s alleged visits to adult stores unfolded in the 1990s and 2000s, before his transition into the political sphere, according to the report.
Robinson and his campaign denied the report as “complete and total fiction,” but he stayed in the spotlight of scandal when CNN ran a report later that same month claiming Robinson frequented a pornography site called “Nude Africa,” where he allegedly messaged with fellow users about peeping on women in locker rooms as a teenager, describing himself as a “black NAZI” and declaring a fondness for transgender pornography.
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North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein, left, and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The alleged use of the chat forums played out between 2008 and 2012, according to CNN, well before Robinson entered the political arena in 2019, when he announced his run for lieutenant governor.
Robinson vociferously denied that report, including before its publication, and vowed to stay in the race while calling the then-anticipated report “tabloid trash.”
“Let me reassure you, the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson. You know my words, you know my character, and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before. Folks, this race right now, our opponents are desperate to shift the focus here from the substantive issues and focus on what you are concerned with to salacious trap, tabloid trash,” he said in the X video.
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Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is shown before former President Trump speaks at a campaign event, Aug. 14, in Asheville, N.C. (Grant Baldwin/Getty Images)
Stein has been North Carolina’s attorney general since 2017 after serving in the state Senate from 2009 to 2016. The progressive attorney and politician campaigned on a platform of lowering the cost of housing, increasing job creation, expanding access to abortion and improving education.
The Democrat candidate joined Vice President Harris amid her campaign for the White House this election season and was endorsed by North Carolina Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper. Stein will become the state’s first Jewish governor when he is inaugurated in January.
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North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper speaks in support of Democrat presidential candidate Vice President Harris, Aug. 16, in Raleigh, N.C. (Grant Baldwin/Getty Images)
“I’m excited to endorse Josh Stein to be the next Governor of North Carolina. He’s driven by a steadfast commitment to the people of our great state. That’s why he’ll work to invest in students and public schools, quality health care for hardworking people, and better jobs that make life more affordable for the middle class. With a record of results and a clear-eyed vision for our future, Josh is ready to do this job,” Cooper said in a statement about Stein’s run.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is shown at the Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour event in Raleigh on Sept. 10. (Kate Medley for the Washington Post via Getty Images)
North Carolina has a history of electing Democrat governors and Republican presidential candidates, last electing a Democrat presidential candidate in 2008 and last electing a Republican governor in 2012.
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Robinson campaigned on a platform of lowering crime, supporting police, growing North Carolina businesses and cutting taxes for families and businesses.
He previously worked as a furniture factory employee in North Carolina and is an Army veteran, before climbing the GOP’s political ladder, including earning endorsements from former President Trump and the NRA.
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Robinson went viral in 2018 when he delivered an impassioned speech about gun laws during a City Council meeting in Greensboro, before he was elected to political office. His speech came in response to local leaders debating whether to cancel a gun show in the wake of the Parkland school shooting in Florida that same year.
“I’m a law-abiding citizen who’s never shot anybody,” Robinson said at the meeting, which was viewed 200 million times. “Every time we have one of these shootings, nobody wants to put the blame where it goes, which is at the shooter’s feet. You want to put it at my feet. You want to turn around and restrict my right.”