Several people leading Republican Mark Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign have resigned following a CNN report about vulgar and racist messages that appeared on a pornography website years ago.
Robinson, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, denies the allegations. His campaign announced his departure in a press release Sunday night.
Among those leaving are:
▪ Conrad Pogorzelski III, who was Robinson’s general counsel and senior advisor. He is known as the main person behind Robinson’s campaign.
▪ Chris Rodriguez, Robinson’s campaign manager,
▪ Heather Whillier, Robinson’s Chief Financial Officer,
▪ Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager.
In a statement, Robinson said he “appreciates the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to leave the campaign, and I wish them the best in their future endeavors. I look forward to announcing new staff appointments in the coming days.”
Robinson did not address the scandal and did not attend former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Wilmington on Saturday. Trump also did not mention Robinson at the event, The News & Observer previously reported.
Robinson easily won the Republican primary for governor and will face Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein in the general election.
He received support from Trump, who invited him to his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in December and later officially endorsed him.
But the fallout from Thursday’s CNN story was felt almost immediately. Fellow Republicans demanded that Robinson provide evidence that the allegations were untrue, while others called on him to end his campaign.
Republicans have been distancing themselves from Robinson since the CNN report, which showed a series of comments Robinson allegedly made, describing himself as a “black Nazi,” making explicit sexual remarks, making racial slurs about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and saying that slavery “wasn’t bad” and that he would buy enslaved people if they would bring them back.
Robinson’s statement on Sunday also said his campaign “will continue to focus on the essential issues at stake in this election: building an economy that grows from Murphy to Manteo; cutting taxes and eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy; removing politics from our classrooms; and tackling violent crime and dangerous drugs.”
“Polls have repeatedly underestimated Republican support in North Carolina, and with much 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 voters and win on November 5,” Robinson said.
Before the scandal broke, he was already trailing Stein in several polls.
