Mark Robinson’s top campaign staff in NC governor’s race resigns in wake of scandal

Multiple people leading Republican Mark Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign staff have resigned following a CNN report about vulgar and racists posts made years ago on a pornography website.

Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, denies the allegations. His campaign announced the departures in a news release Sunday evening.

Those leaving include:

▪ Conrad Pogorzelski III, who was Robinson’s general consultant and senior advisor. He has been known as the main person behind Robinson’s campaign.

▪ Chris Rodriguez, Robinson’s campaign manager,

▪ Heather Whillier, Robinson’s finance director,

▪ Jason Rizk, deputy campaign manager.

In a statement, Robinson said he appreciated “the efforts of these team members who have made the difficult choice to step away from the campaign, and I wish them well in their future endeavors. I look forward to announcing new staff roles in the coming days.”

Robinson did not address the scandal and didn’t attend former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Wilmington on Saturday. Trump also did not mention Robinson during the event, The News & Observer previously reported.

Robinson easily won the Republican gubernatorial primary and faces Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein in the general election.

He has been supported by Trump, who invited him to his Mar-a-lago home in Florida in December and later officially endorsed him.

But the fallout from Thursday’s CNN story was almost immediate, with fellow Republicans calling for Robinson to offer evidence that the allegations weren’t true, with others calling for him to end his campaign.

Republicans have been distancing themselves from Robinson since the CNN report, which showed a series of comments allegedly made by Robinson. They include describing himself as a “Black Nazi,” sexuality explicit comments, racial slurs about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and saying that slavery “was not bad” and he would buy enslaved people if they brought it back.

Robinson’s statement on Sunday also said that his campaign “will continue to focus on the substantive issues at stake in this election: building an economy that grows from Murphy to Manteo; cutting taxes and eliminating unnecessary red-tape; removing politics out of our classrooms; and cracking down on violent crime and dangerous drugs.”

“Polls have consistently underestimated Republican support in North Carolina for several cycles now and with a large portion of the electorate still undecided as we continue to ramp up our efforts across the state, I am confident our campaign remains in a strong position to make our case to the voters and win on Nov. 5,” Robinson said.

He had been down in several polls against Stein before the scandal broke.