Robinson campaigning on transgender restroom usage as he seeks GOP nomination

With the primary election just three weeks away, Republican gubernatorial front-runner Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is campaigning on the issue of transgender people and restrooms.

"If you're a man on Friday night," Robinson told a crowd of supporters at a recent event in Cary, "and all the sudden on Saturday you feel like a woman, and you want to go in the women's bathroom in the mall, you will be arrested — or whatever we got to do to you. We got to protect our women."

That's an echo of a 2016 bill that regulated which restrooms transgender people could use. The bill, known as HB2, provoked a tremendous international backlash, including a boycott that cost the state billions of dollars in lost investments, jobs and events, before the law was partially repealed the next year.

N.C. State political scientist Steven Greene doesn’t think state lawmakers are likely to want to revisit that issue in an election year.

"It’s bad politics," Greene told WRAL News. "Arguably, this could help him win the Republican primary, but he already seems in a strong position there. And looking at the general election, running as a right-wing culture warrior is not a recipe for winning statewide election as governor in North Carolina."

Robinson's campaign didn't respond to a request for comment. Republican legislative leaders also didn't respond to inquiries about revisiting HB2.

Meredith College political scientist David McLennan says it’s the latest example in Robinson’s long track record of anti-LGBTQ statements. He said it's probably good for Robinson's fundraising, but may not sit well with voters in November if Robinson wins his party's nomination in the primary.

"When he talks about dehumanizing people and making them unable to use bathrooms, that may be too far for the average voter who might even be center-right on this particular issue," McLennan said.

"He's provocative, and that gets him a lot of airtime," McLennan added. "But on the other hand, he's going to be somewhat like Donald Trump — he's probably the greatest turnout machine that the Democrats can hope for."

Robinson's Republican primary opponents criticized Robinson's comments.

“Mark Robinson is history's latest example of someone rising to power through hate,” said State Treasurer Dale Folwell, who is also seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

Bill Graham, a Salisbury lawyer is also seeking the nomination. "Mark Robinson is going to lose, and he will hurt all Republican candidates up and down the ballot if he's the nominee," said Alex Baltzegar, a spokesman for Graham.