In the race for North Carolina governor, a new poll shows Democratic candidate Josh Stein polling ahead of his Republican rival, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson.
The New York Times/Siena College poll taken between September 17 and 21, and published on Monday, shows Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general, polling 10 points ahead of Robinson (47 to 37 percent). The poll surveyed 682 voters in the state and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
In a Times/Siena poll that was published on August 17, it found Stein polling at 48 percent compared to Robinson’s 38 percent, another 10-point difference. Last month’s poll surveyed 655 registered voters in North Carolina from August 9 to 14 and had a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.
Morgan Hopkins, a spokeswoman for the Stein campaign, told Newsweek via email on Monday, “North Carolinians already knew Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor. Over the next six weeks, Josh will continue to bring people from all backgrounds and political parties together to build a safer, stronger North Carolina and to reject Mark Robinson’s disturbing extremism.”
Monday’s poll is the first to be released following a report from CNN on Thursday that alleged Robinson made racist and sexist posts on a pornography website over a decade ago. Robinson, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has repeatedly denied writing the posts and has said he’ll stay in the race.
The poll was conducted during the time that the scandal broke, so those surveyed may have been influenced by the events.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is seen in Raleigh, North Carolina, on August 16. In the race for North Carolina governor, a new poll shows Stein, the Democratic candidate, polling ahead of his Republican rival, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson.
Grant Baldwin/Getty images
In its report, CNN said that Robinson allegedly called himself a “Black NAZI,” defended slavery, repeated homophobic slurs and fondly recalled “peeping” on women. CNN did not include many of the posts given their graphic nature.
The following day, The Washington Post reported that “minisoldr,” the username believed to be affiliated with Robinson on the Nude Africa pornography website, also expressed an affinity for Nazi literature.
“Mein Kampf is a good read,” the user reportedly wrote in a thread on book recommendations. “It’s very informative and not at all what I thought it would be. It’s a real eye opener.”
Robinson’s campaign communications director Mike Lonergan blamed the reported posts on Stein in a statement previously emailed to Newsweek on Friday.
“Everything Josh Stein [and] the Democrats say about Mark Robinson is either an outright lie or twisted so far out of context it might as well be,” Lonergan said. “The people of North Carolina have had enough lies from career politicians like Josh Stein—and that’s why they’ll elect Mark Robinson governor on November 5.”
Newsweek has contacted Robinson’s campaign for comment on the latest poll results via online form.
North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson is seen in Asheville, North Carolina, on August 14. Monday’s poll is the first poll to be released following a report from CNN on Thursday that alleged Robinson made racist and sexist posts on a pornography website over a decade ago.
Grant Baldwin/Getty images
Other recent polls have put Stein between 10 and 13 points ahead of his opponent.
A Quinnipiac University poll, conducted between September 4 and 8, put Stein 10 points ahead among 940 likely voters, 51 percent to Robinson’s 41 percent. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
A poll conducted by Florida Atlantic University earlier this month put Stein 11 points ahead, while a Morning Consult poll from September 8 put him 13 points ahead of Robinson.
Previous polls, including Emerson College and Redfield and Wilton Strategies, have shown Stein with a smaller lead of between 4 and 6 points, but both showed Stein’s lead outside of the margin of error. No polls conducted since July have shown Robinson ahead.
On Sunday, Newsweek reported that Robinson lost several critical staffers following the CNN report, including senior adviser Conrad Pogorzelski III, campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, the campaign’s finance director and deputy finance director, two political directors, the director of operations, and also a deputy campaign manager.
Meanwhile, the polling gap between parties is significantly smaller for the presidential race, where Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is currently 1 percentage point behind Trump, the GOP nominee, (47 to 48 percent), per the Times/Siena poll. When the poll expands to include third party candidates, Trump and Harris both poll at 46 percent.
The economy is the highest rated issue in the election, with 24 percent of people polled believing it’s the most important issue to vote on. Abortion was ranked as the second most important issue in North Carolina, with 13 percent of people polled prioritizing the medical procedure on their ballot.
Abortion being a critical issue in North Carolina may also continue to play into why Stein is polling ahead of Robinson.
The lieutenant governor has been criticized for a video that resurfaced of himself in 2019 claiming that abortions happened because women “weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”
Per reporting from Business North Carolina, Robinson said at a lunch on Tuesday that his quote was taken out of context, telling reporters, “I said keep their skirts down and their pants up,” presumably referring to men’s pants.
Stein’s website states that if he wins the governorship, he’ll “continue to defend women’s rights and freedoms—whether it’s contraception, IVF or abortion—because extreme politicians in Raleigh are not done yet.”
Update 9/23/24, 2:16 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
