Scandal-plagued 'Black Nazi' candidate Mark Robinson loses bid for North Carolina governor
Mark Robinson, the scandal-plagued candidate for North Carolina governor, has been comfortably defeated in his election race.
Robinson, the lieutenant governor, was mired in controversy after reports emerged that he made a series of comments on a pornography website's forum referring to himself as a "Black Nazi", among other sexually explicit posts.
State Attorney General Josh Stein successfully campaigned as a moderate Democrat and painted Robinson as unfit to lead, comfortably winning the race to succeed fellow Democrat Roy Cooper.
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Republican North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson was engulfed in controversy after remarks made online surfaced. AP
Stein will be the first Jewish governor in North Carolina's history.
In September, CNN reported that Robinson had made a series of racially and sexually explicit posts on the forum of a porn site.
Robinson has always denied the claims and sued CNN for defamation.
Among other inflammatory comments, Robinson reportedly wrote "I'm a black NAZI," expressed support for bringing slavery back, and referred to himself as a "perv".
The comments predated his entry into politics and stint as North Carolina's lieutenant governor.
They were made under a username that CNN was able to identify as Robinson by matching a litany of biographical details and a shared email address between the two.
In the days following the report, most of Robinson's top campaign staff quit.
Robinson's brief political career has been punctuated by antisemitic and sexist commentary — including Robinson telling women to "keep your skirt down" to avoid unwanted pregnancy and referring to Michelle Obama as a man.
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Josh Stein will be the next governor of North Carolina. AP
Incoming governor Stein is a Harvard-trained lawyer, former state senator and was the state's chief law enforcement officer since 2017.
Democrats have held the governor's mansion for all but four years since 1993, even as the GOP has held legislative majorities since 2011.
In a speech tonight, Robinson made indirect references to the commercials run by Stein, saying that during his campaign he didn't spend millions of dollars "demonising anyone".
"I'm disappointed for you because I wanted this so bad for you," Robinson told supporters, adding that he was "glad to have won a race that was upright and decent".
- Reported with CNN and Associated Press.
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