Republicans in N.C. bracing for damaging story on gubernatorial candidate [View all]

(Washington Post) Republicans in North Carolina were bracing Thursday for what some anticipated would be a damaging CNN story on Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina, with less than two months before the election, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

“For the sake of the party, for the sake of our down-ballot races … and for the sake of Donald Trump’s victory in North Carolina, I think Mark Robinson needs to drop out,” said Jonathan Bridges, who managed the campaign of one of Robinson’s rivals in the GOP primary, former congressman Mark Walker.

Few seemed to know what the new information would entail, but Republican officials, including some working on behalf of Trump’s presidential campaign, were pressuring Robinson to withdraw from the race, according to multiple political professionals in the state who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.

“[Republican] establishment is reeling and trying to figure out what to do,” one political operative in the state said in a text message. “Robinson is defiant and says he’s staying in.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/09/19/mark-robinson-north-carolina-governor/