Democrat Josh Stein Defeats Mark Robinson In North Carolina Governors Race

Democrat Josh Stein is projected to defeat Republican Mark Robinson in Tuesdays election for North Carolina governor, bringing an end to a race that made national news almost entirely because of Robinsons years of disgusting and offensive claims coming to light.

Stein, currently the states attorney general, used a campaign strategy of behaving like a normal and reasonable person. He talked about the need to make the economy work for everyone. He made a commitment to protecting womens reproductive rights and helping lift up small businesses. His strategy worked.

Robinson, the states lieutenant governor, took a different approach: align with Donald Trump, appeal to far-right conservatives, and constantly insult women, Black people, transgender people, Muslims and pretty much everyone who isnt a far-right conservative.

He did this for years on social media, and for some reason left all of his posts public even once he became a state government official and then the GOP gubernatorial nominee. Robinson also fanned wild conspiracy theories , including that the 1969 moon landing may have been fake and that theres a secret ruling class of reptile people.

When asked about his claims that, for example, Michelle Obama emanates the stench of human waste, or that Martin Luther King Jr. was an ersatz pastor and the 1960s civil rights movement was crap,  or that children who are raped will grow up to become monsters,  or that young women shouldnt have access to birth control (a point he emphasized by gesturing to his groin), Robinson simply ignored the questions and continued demeaning people.

During the campaign, Stein, who previously served as a state senator for seven years, called for lowering taxes for workers and rejecting political division . Robinson typically railed against birth control and transgender people .

Stein was already leading Robinson in the polls for months, but he pulled way ahead after a CNN report in September unearthed disturbing comments  that Robinson made on a porn site. The report found Robinson referring to himself as a black Nazi in a forum on the site, called Nude Africa. He described being sexually aroused by spying on women and girls in public showers. He called himself a perv who likes pornography featuring transgender people a sharp contrast to his transphobic public stances.

Republican Party officials wanted nothing to do with Robinson after the CNN report. His campaign staff resigned en masse, and GOP groups stopped giving him money. Even Trump, who enthusiastically endorsed Robinson in March and has shared stages with him at campaign events, was suddenly pretending he didnt know who he was .

Robinson has condemned the CNN report and is suing the network for $50 million. But he has yet to present any evidence that refutes the story, which meticulously lays out how CNNs reporters connected him to a trove of comments in the Nude Africa forum.

Robinson even initially suggested that the things described in the CNN report possibly happened.

In the final days before the election, Stein was leading Robinson in the polls by a whopping 17 points , per the polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

Both were competing to replace North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who is term-limited out this year.