Democrat Josh Stein Defeats Mark Robinson In North Carolina Governor’s Race

Stein, the state's current attorney general, basically just had to be a normal person as Robinson's horrifying campaign imploded.

Democrat Josh Stein is projected to defeat Republican Mark Robinson in Tuesday’s election for North Carolina governor, bringing an end to a race that made national news almost entirely because of Robinson’s years of disgusting and offensive claims coming to light.

Stein, currently the state’s attorney general, used a campaign strategy of behaving like a normal and reasonable person. He talked about the need to make the economy work for everyone. He made a commitment to protecting women’s reproductive rights and helping lift up small businesses. His strategy worked.

Robinson, the state’s lieutenant governor, took a different approach: align with Donald Trump, appeal to far-right conservatives, and constantly insult women, Black people, transgender people, Muslims and pretty much everyone who isn’t a far-right conservative.

He did this for years on social media, and for some reason left all of his posts public even once he became a state government official and then the GOP gubernatorial nominee. Robinson also fanned wild conspiracy theories, including that the 1969 moon landing may have been fake and that there’s a secret ruling class of reptile people.

When asked about his claims that, for example, Michelle Obama emanates “the stench of human waste,” or that Martin Luther King Jr. was an “ersatz pastor” and the 1960s civil rights movement was “crap,” or that children who are raped will grow up to become “monsters,” or that young women shouldn’t have access to birth control (a point he emphasized by gesturing to his groin), Robinson simply ignored the questions and continued demeaning people.