Conspiracy Theorist Mark Robinson Wins North Carolina’s GOP Primary For Governor

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was projected to win North Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial primary as of Tuesday night, meaning Republican voters here have chosen a self-described conspiracy theorist known for his incendiary rhetoric as their best bet for winning a general election in November.

NBC and CBS projected Robinson the winner just before 8 p.m. local time.

Robinson will now face Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein. Both are hoping to succeed Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is term-limited out after two consecutive terms.

It’s no surprise that Robinson won. He’d been leading in the polls for months against his GOP challengers, state treasurer Dale Folwell and multimillionaire Bill Graham. Robinson had a pretty simple campaign strategy: Align with Donald Trump, say whatever wild and offensive things you want, and look to Trump’s base of supporters to show up for you at the polls.

This may have worked in the primary, but winning the general election in a presidential election year is an entirely different game. Robinson will almost certainly spend the coming months trying to seem like a more mainstream politician — in contrast to his years of spewing sexist, transphobic, Islamophobic and antisemitic rhetoric, along with a range of dangerous conspiracy theories.

Stein and Democrats, meanwhile, will almost certainly make those comments a focal point.

North Carolina will be a key swing state in the 2024 presidential election. Trump won here in 2020, but barely — and that was before he tried to steal the election, incited an insurrection, got impeached for a second time and was facing 91 felony charges.

It’s a particularly crucial election year for state leaders, too. If Robinson wins, the GOP will control the state House, Senate and governor’s office. If Stein wins, Democrats will at least have the ability to veto bills they don’t support.

For now, Robinson seems pretty comfortable being associated with Trump. The former president formally endorsed Robinson over the weekend at a North Carolina campaign event. Trump also declared that Robinson, who is Black, is “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

“I think you’re better than Martin Luther King,” Trump said to cheers. “I think you are Martin Luther King times two!”

Robinson has previously smeared the civil rights icon as an “ersatz pastor” and a “communist,” and dismissed the 1960s civil rights movement as “crap.”