WILSON, N.C. (WNCN) — With just two weeks to go until Election Day, candidates are hitting the campaign trail in a final push to gain votes. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for North Carolina governor, is no exception, but his packed schedule of personal appearances seems relatively new for him.
Robinson started his day campaigning for governor by talking to voters at the Elks Lodge in Wilson. He then visited Greenville, Lenoir County, and Knightdale. Voters said campaign stops like this are important.
“It’s better to see them in person,” said Brenda Lam, who attended the event in Wilson.
“You get to hear what he’s actually saying and standing for,” said Denise Driver, who had Robinson sign her hat.
When asked the stops are a deliberate change in campaign strategy, Robinson said, “It’s not really a change. We’ve ramped it up exponentially. We started this process before we even made the change. We have more concise leadership right now, more directed leadership, and we’re having more events. We’re trying to get in everyone we can before the threshold ends.”
Robinson recently replaced most of his campaign staff after several prominent members resigned in the wake of a CNN report that alleged he made offensive racial and sexual comments on a pornographic website more than a decade ago. Robinson denies making the comments and filed a lawsuit against CNN over the story, but the report has impacted support among some fellow Republicans.
Since the report ran, Robinson has not appeared at any rallies since the report ran. When asked Monday if voters should continue to support Robinson, Trump said he “not familiar with the state of the race”.
Asked if that concerns him, Robinson said, “Not at all. Folks do what they have to do for their own campaign. We’re not worried about that. We’re not running for president. We’re running for governor of the state. We have no doubt there are enough people in the state who understand what’s at stake here.”
But Meredith College political science professor David McLennan has a different take.
“That is absolutely hurting [Robinson’s] campaign,” he said. “I think the distancing Trump is showing with Robinson, both by not having him there and not even commenting on the race, is ultimately going to be damaging to Robinson because they were so closely tied prior to the allegations coming out.”
When asked if Robinson’s constant campaign appearances will make a difference as the race reaches its final days, McLennan said, “Considering over 1.3 million North Carolinians voted as of the end of yesterday, time is getting really short.”
Robinson believes he still has time, saying, “We do know a lot of people are not going to vote until voting day or late in the process if they vote early. I think it’s very important to make sure we speak to every single solitary voter that we can.”
