North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has been elected the state’s next governor, the AP reported.
The Democrat defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson on Tuesday.
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His victory maintains Democratic leadership of the CEO’s office in a state where the Republican Party has recently controlled the legislature and appeals courts.
Stein will succeed Democrat Roy Cooper, who was term-limited in his re-election bid.
Stein is a former senator who was first elected attorney general in 2016. The son of a prominent civil rights attorney, he will become North Carolina’s first Jewish governor.
Since 1993, Democrats have lived in the governor’s mansion in Raleigh for all but four years.
Previous coverage:
Robinson is fighting the polls
Robinson rose to prominence in the Republican Party after a pro-gun speech at a Greensboro City Council meeting in 2018, and even received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Two years later he became lieutenant governor of North Carolina.
But according to the latest figures from Real Clear Polling, Robinson is more than 10 points behind in the race.
His campaign was tarnished in September by a bombastic report from CNN, which said, among other things, that Robinson had called himself a “black Nazi” in an online forum. Robinson sued CNN, saying he was not the one who posted online. He has not yet provided evidence in his case.
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Through it all, Robinson has traveled across North Carolina greeting voters, even on Election Day.
“We’ve seen polls be extremely wrong in the past, in the recent past. We have seen where polls said one thing and people said another,” Robinson told Sáenz. “We trust the people and what we have seen on the ground gives us the confidence to know that we still can’t do this and will probably win.”
If elected, Robinson would make history as the first black governor in North Carolina.
Stein appears to be keeping NC purple
Stein has positioned himself as Robinson’s polar opposite and a close ally of incumbent Governor Roy Cooper.
He currently surpasses Robinson in polling and fundraising. The latest figures from June to October show that Stein’s campaign received almost $45 million in donations, which is eleven times what Robinson received.
Stein has said winning this race comes down to the issues that matter to people: public safety, growing the economy, investing in education and teacher pay.
Stein hopes the election will allow Democrats to break the Republican Party’s supermajority in the state legislature. He says he can work well with Republicans on important issues, such as the large backlog of untested rape kits and the opioid and fentanyl crisis.
“The choice couldn’t be clearer: two competing visions; ours is optimistic, forward-looking and welcoming; Mark Robinson’s is one of division and hate, and we must come together to solve tough problems and that’s what voters can decide today, I hope they do,” Stein said.
The polling stations close before 8 p.m. We will update this article with the latest news on the governor’s election as details become available.
VIDEO: NC Governor Candidate Mark Robinson Sues CNN Over Porn Site Postings
