NC Republicans Richly Deserve A Beat Down From The State's Voters
The North Carolina General Assembly is overwhelmingly Republican. The state Senate has 30 Republicans and just 20 Democrats and the state House has 72 Republicans and 48 Dems. That seems a little off-kilter is a state that reelected Democratic Governor with a healthy 4.5 point margin:
Roy Cooper (D)- 2,834,790 (51.5%)
Dan Forest (R)- 2,586,605 (47.0%)
Cooper took more votes that day than either Trump or Biden. And Republican incumbent Thom Tillis only managed to be reelected against a mediocre conservative Democrat, Cal Cunningham by less than 2 points. On the same day Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein was reelected against Republican Jim O’Neill 50.1% to 49.9% and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (first elected in 1996) beat Republican E.C. Sykes 51.2% to 48.8%. In 2022, after the census awarded the state a 14th House seat, North Carolina voters elected a congressional delegation of 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans, reflecting North Carolina’s 50-50 partisan split.
The legislature and Republican Party were not about to take that lying down and immediately went into super-gerrymander mode, eliminating 3 seats Democrats could win and making another more difficult for a Democrat. The planned congressional delegation for 2025: 10 or 11 Republicans and 3 or 4 Democrats. That kind of gerrymander— sanctioned by a corrupt, partisan Supreme Court— can make the difference between MAGA Mike or Hakeem Jeffries being Speaker.
Now North Carolina Republicans, with Trump’s backing, nominated a full-on psychopath for governor, current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. No one thinks he’s going to win but the big worry among Republicans is how many other candidates— from Trump on down the ballot— his extremism will jeopardize. A Fox News poll this week shows Josh Stein beating Robinson by 11 points. That would assist Kamala to close the one point gap between herself and Trump and it would help Don Davis, a worthless Blue Dog incumbent, keep his seat in the one swing district.
Reporting for The Hill yesterday, Jared Gans wrote that “Some Republicans fear Robinson’s controversial persona could cost them the governor’s mansion— and the challenge will be even tougher for him as Vice President Harris has seemingly made inroads in the state as well. ‘That is the dominant feature of the race,’ Republican strategist Douglas Heye said, referring to the controversies surrounding past comments Robinson has made. Robinson first rose to prominence in 2018 when he spoke in defense of gun rights at a Greensboro City Council meeting, which helped launch his successful run for lieutenant governor in 2020. He narrowly won the election to become the first Black lieutenant governor of the state, even as incumbent Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper won reelection by a slightly larger margin. Throughout his political career, Robinson has rallied those on the right as a strong Trump ally and firebrand on conservative principles. But his principles and rhetoric have at times caused friction. Robinson has made a wide range of controversial comments dating back to before his time in office. He has made derogatory statements about Jews, Muslims, transgender people and Black people who support Democrats. He has described Muslims as ‘invaders,’ referred to homosexuality and ‘transgenderism’ as ‘filth’ and criticized feminism as being ‘watered by the devil.’ He has referred to abortion as ‘murder’ and ‘genocide’ and said the issue is about not being ‘responsible enough to keep your skirt down,’ comments with which Stein’s campaign has gone on offense against Robinson.”
And then there’s Robinson’s addiction to pornography, especially awkward for someone pretending to be the moralistic family values candidate. The fact that he's lying to cover it up, makes it even worse.
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