RALEIGH, N.C. — After several outlets declared the North Carolina governor's race in favor of Josh Stein, Republican candidate Mark Robinson, the state's current lieutenant governor, thanked his supporters for their contributions to his campaign.
“I’m standing here right now and I’m not sad one lick," Robinson said. "I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed for you. Because I wanted this for you, and for the people of North Carolina … I can tell you this. I’m not going to stop here folks. We have a lot of work still to do as lieutenant governor. We have a lot of work still to do in western North Carolina to continue to help those folks get back to full normal. We have a lot of work to do in the sphere of education these last two months. We’re going to do it with great energy and the same intensity we’ve been doing it for the last three and half, almost four years.”
A native of Greensboro and an Army veteran, Robinson was the ninth of ten children in a family that grew up in extreme poverty. He joined the Army Reserve after graduating from Grimsley High and went on to work at several furniture factoties in the Triad while spending time at both North Carolina A&T State University and UNC-Greensboro. He graduated from UNC-G in 2022 with a B.A. in history.
Robinson broke onto the political scene in 2018 after he delivered an impassioned address on gun rights to the Greensboro City Council. Robinson's remarks quickly went viral, and from there he began expanding his platform to address issues such as abortion, education and veterans' care.
In 2019, Robinson launched a campaign for Lieutenant Governor. He won the general election in 2020 against Democratic nominee Yvonne Holley, becoming North Carolina's first black Lieutenant Governor.
"Folks, I have stood on the highest mountain," Robinson said. "Going from being a factory worker to being the first black lieutenant governor of North Carolina has been the honor of my lifetime. I am proud to stand in front of so many supporters and have so many votes cast for me by people who have confidence in me. It's not about the lies, it's not about the half-truths. It's about the people who believe in you, and it's about the state that you love, a state that I fully intend to continue to serve for the next two months, and who knows, maybe in the future, once again, somewhere in office."
In September, CNN published an investigative story that alleged Robinson made numerous comments of a lewd and sexual nature on a pornography forum several years ago. Among the inflammatory posts, CNN alleges Robinson at one point referred to himself as a "black NAZI."
Robinson's campaign never recovered from the fallout of the CNN story, though polls before then still showed him a sizeable margin behind Josh Stein.
Robinson said Tuesday he plans to spend his time away from office come January with his grandchildren.
"I'm standing here now, folks, and guess where my head is?" Robinson said Tuesday. "My head is held high. And the reason my head is held high is because I ran a race where I did not have to lie, I did not have to tell half-truths. I did not have to spend millions and millions and millions of dollars demonizing anyone. I simply traveled the state and told people about my vision."
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