Under the Dome, governor’s race edition: The latest poll, plus Robinson’s past tax debts

Welcome to your Under the Dome newsletter, governor’s race edition. Dawn Vaughan here, The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief.

The latest poll on the race for governor between Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson shows Stein with a decent lead compared to previous polls that have the two candidates in a close race.

The Quinnipiac University poll out this week shows Stein leading Robinson 52% to 44% in a head-to-head race, or 48% to 41% if you include third-party candidates.

Those polled were also asked to rank 11 issues that determine how they’ll vote for governor. What each sees as most important differed, as you’d expect, by political party.

For Republicans, most picked the economy as their primary issue, with 40%, followed by immigration with 16% and preserving democracy in the United States with 11%, according to Quinnipiac.

For Democrats, preserving democracy led their issues with 24%, followed by education with 14% and the economy at 12%.

Independent voters went with the economy first with 30%, then education with 15% and democracy with 13%.

The poll’s methodology shows that 1,401 people who said they are registered voters were called by a live person on a mobile or landline phone number across the state during a survey period of April 4-8.

Robinson’s taxes

With Tax Day near, an ABC News report renewed interest in Robinson’s previous financial problems. According to the network, citing documents from Robinson’s most recent bankruptcy in 2003, he did not file tax returns from 1998 to 2002. Robinson was compelled by the IRS to file his back taxes.

Robinson’s campaign spokesperson, Mike Lonergan, told ABC it was “old news” and that Robinson “has made no secret about the financial challenges in his past.”

Even before he was elected in 2020, The News & Observer reported that Robinson failed to pay taxes as recently as 2012, was hit with IRS liens, and filed for bankruptcy three times in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Since Robinson has taken office, WRAL has reported that Robinson had unpaid vehicle taxes and an eviction in his background, in addition to seven years of unpaid federal income taxes.

Under the Dome podcast, live

If you read our Under the Dome newsletter, you’re probably also a listener to our weekly Under the Dome politics podcast, which I host along with our politics team and guests. So we hope you’ll join us at Under the Dome: Live!, a special live recording of an episode. We’re giving you first dibs on a seat in our audience at the North Carolina Museum of History’s Daniels Auditorium.

My guests will be two senators, one from each political party, as the General Assembly’s short session gets rolling. Come watch our live podcast recording with Sen. Vickie Sawyer, an Iredell County Republican, and Sen. Natalie Murdock, a Durham Democrat.

Save the date for April 30 at 5 p.m. and RSVP at underthedomelive.eventbrite.com using the code: domelive.

Stay informed

Don’t forget to follow our Under the Dome tweets and listen to our aforementioned Under the Dome podcast to stay up to date. On our Under the Dome podcast episode posting Monday morning, I talk with higher education reporter Korie Dean about what legislation we might see in the upcoming session about defunding campus DEI — which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion — programs on campuses. Plus, we talk about the state Capitol building reopening soon and if there’s a chance to get some of that old copper from the dome.

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