(NewsNation) — NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ has called the race for governor in North Carolina in favor of Democrat Josh Stein. Track the results of the presidential election around the country here.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein sought the office, hoping to keep a Democrat in the governor’s mansion after Roy Cooper’s two terms. He was challenged by Republican Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, who sought to become the state’s first Black governor.
Cooper is unable to seek reelection due to the North Carolina State Constitution, which requires governors and lieutenant governors to be elected every four years and limits them to two terms.
Cooper endorsed Stein, who remained largely out of the national spotlight while seeking North Carolina’s top political office. Meanwhile, Robinson became a fixture in the news cycle during the campaign after he denied comments he allegedly made on a pornography website’s message board between 2008 and 2012.
According to reports, Robinson referred to himself as a “black Nazi!” and reportedly expressed support for slavery.
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“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves,” Robinson allegedly wrote. “I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few.”
Facing calls to leave the governor’s race, Robinson denied making comments on the message board and reports he called himself a “perv” and peeped on women in public showers when he was 14. Robinson also reportedly said in 2012 that he would prefer the leadership of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler over that being provided at the time by then-President Barack Obama.
Robinson was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who distanced himself from the lieutenant governor after the porn message board scandal surfaced.
According to reports, Robinson skipped a vote on declaring North Carolina to be in a state of emergency after Hurricane Helene brought severe flooding and storm damage to the state in late September.
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If elected, Stein would become North Carolina’s first Jewish governor. Stein, who holds degrees from Dartmouth and Harvard, first worked to help turn abandoned drug houses into affordable single-family homes before serving as the state’s deputy attorney general.
He also served as a state senator in North Carolina’s 16th District between 2009 and 2016. Since announcing his run for governor, Stein campaigned on a range of issues, from public education to women’s reproductive rights.
North Carolina has remained a critical state in the race for the White House. Despite voting almost exclusively for Republican presidential candidates since 1968, the state helped elect Obama in 2008 before it shifted back to its Republican loyalties in 2012 for Mitt Romney. Trump captured the state by 3.6% in 2016 against Hillary Clinton before winning North Carolina by 1.3% against Joe Biden in 2020.
