Four staff members of Mark Robinson‘s campaign resigned on Sunday, just days after a report alleged the North Carolina gubernatorial nominee used racist, antisemitic, and homophobic slurs in posts on a pornographic forum.
In an email, the Robinson campaign announced that Conrad Pogorzelski, senior adviser; Chris Rodriguez, campaign manager; Heather Whillier, finance director; and Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager, have stepped down from their roles. The email noted that new campaign staff members will be announced “in the coming days.”
The campaign email also included a statement from Robinson, in which he thanked the staff members for their work and attempted to reassure voters that his campaign is on track to win in November.
“I appreciate the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign. … Polls have consistently underestimated Republican support in North Carolina for several cycles now and with a large portion of the electorate still undecided as we continue to ramp up our efforts across the state, I am confident our campaign remains in a strong position to make our case to the voters and win on November 5,” the statement said.
However, the departure of these staff members marks the latest in the fallout from the controversy surrounding Robinson after a CNN report released on Thursday alleged he called Martin Luther King Jr. “Martin Lucifer K**n,” supported the reinstatement of slavery, and posted sexually graphic comments on the forum “Nude Africa.” These alleged posts predate his time as lieutenant governor of North Carolina, a role he has served in since 2021.
In response, Robinson called the report “salacious tabloid trash,” pinned the blame on his Democratic challenger, state Attorney General Josh Stein, and vowed to stay in the race.
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Many Republican politicians have weighed in on the report, with most recently Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) saying if the allegations are true, “he’s unfit to serve for office.”
New polling after the report’s release indicates Robinson is bleeding support. Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifted the race from lean Democratic to likely Democratic. Polling from before the report’s release from RealClearPolitics shows Stein ahead of Robinson by nearly 10 percentage points, 49.2% to 39.8%.