Republican group not planning additional ad buys in North Carolina gubernatorial race

A group committed to electing Republicans as governors across the country appears to be pulling back from the North Carolina gubernatorial race following the latest reports about the GOP nominee, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. 

The Republican Governors Association’s (RGA) current ad buy in the Tar Heel State is set to expire Tuesday, and the group does not currently have other placements planned, according to its communications director Courtney Alexander. 

“We don’t comment on internal strategy or investment decisions, but we can confirm what’s public — our current media buy in North Carolina expires tomorrow, and no further placements have been made. RGA remains committed to electing Republican Governors all across the country,” she said. 

Robinson has remained adamant that he will continue in the governor’s race against Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein and pushed back against the CNN report that he made a series of inflammatory remarks on a pornography website’s message board between 2008 and 2012, before entering public office. 

The comments reportedly include Robinson calling himself a “black NAZI,” wishing for slavery to return and graphically discussing sexual preferences. 

Robinson has said the report is false and threatened to sue CNN over it. 

The campaign is seeking a path forward as some Republicans have distanced themselves from Robinson’s candidacy and several key members of his team have stepped down, including his campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, finance director and general consultant. 

Stein and his allies had already been massively outspending Robinson and his campaign, but the gap had been expected to close as Election Day approaches. If the RGA does not plan any additional advertising for the race for the final six weeks, however, Robinson will be at even more of a disadvantage. 

The governor’s race in North Carolina is one of only two closely contested gubernatorial races this year, along with one in New Hampshire. 

Polling has shown Stein with significant leads over Robinson, ahead by about 11 points in the average from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill.