Mark Robinson is running for governor. A different Mark Robinson wants his job
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is running for governor. A different Mark Robinson wants his old job.
Sampson County Democrat Mark H. Robinson officially entered North Carolina politics Friday, filing official paperwork for his campaign to fill the seat that the Republican lieutenant governor, Mark K. Robinson is vacating.
Mark H. Robinson’s entry into the race, made less than an hour before the filing deadline, could create confusion for those who don’t follow politics closely, including Democrats surprised to see a Mark Robinson on their primary ballot.
The lieutenant governor is the front-runner in next year’s Republican gubernatorial primary and a political ally of former President Donald Trump. The Republican Robinson is known for boisterous speeches laden with insults for LGBTQ people and flirting with conspiracy theory online.
Mark H. Robinson is a Navy veteran. He has an MBA from Duke University. He has a campaign bus, named after his maternal grandmother, Bessie Murphy. He says he’s taken it to all 100 counties and met 1,700 people, asking them: “What can North Carolina do better?”
“If people get to know you as a friend, then they are going to distinguish you from anyone else who has your name,” he said.
He’s a longshot in the lieutenant governor’s race. Sen. Rachel Hunt, former Gov. Jim Hunt’s daughter, is in this primary, as is former state Sen. Ben Clark, of Cumberland County.
Plus, for Democrats, current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is wildly unpopular. That may be why Mark H. Robinson made sure to include his middle initial Friday when asked how he’d like to appear on the ballot.
“I'm not trying to confuse anyone,” he told reporters. “I think this is what my calling is. And that is to help as many people in the state of North Carolina [as I can] before I die.”
Clark welcomed Robinson to the race Friday, saying it’s up to each candidate to take their ideas to the voters and persuade them.
“I’m confident that on Election Day, the voters will agree that I’m the most experienced, the most qualified, and most importantly, the most electable [candidate] in a general election,” Clark said.
Hunt didn’t return a message seeking comment. Neither did a spokesman for Mark K. Robinson’s campaign.
