A group committed to electing Republicans for governor across the country appears to be withdrawing from the North Carolina gubernatorial race following recent reports about Republican candidate Lt. Governor Mark Robinson.
Current ad buys in the Tar Heel State are set to expire Tuesday, and the group doesn't currently have any plans to run any other ads, according to Republican Governors Association (RGA) spokeswoman Courtney Alexander.
“While we do not comment on internal strategy or investment decisions, we can confirm the publicly-available facts: Our current media buys in North Carolina expire tomorrow and no further advertising will be placed. RGA remains committed to electing Republican governors across the country,” she said.
Robinson remains adamant that he will continue to run for governor against Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein, and has denied a CNN report that he made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography message board between 2008 and 2012, before running for office.
The comments reportedly included calling himself a “black Nazi,” wanting to reinstate slavery and explicitly discussing sexual preferences.
Robinson claims the report is false and has threatened to sue CNN.
Robinson's campaign is seeking a way forward as some Republicans distance themselves from his candidacy and several key members of his team, including his campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, finance director and general counsel, have resigned.
Stein and her allies have already significantly outspent Robinson and his allies, but the gap was expected to narrow as Election Day approaches, but Robinson will be at a greater disadvantage unless the RGA plans to do additional advertising in the remaining six weeks of the race.
The North Carolina gubernatorial election, along with New Hampshire's, is one of two close gubernatorial races this year.
Polls show Stein with a large lead over Robinson, with the Decision Desk HQ/The Hill average giving her a lead of about 11 points.
