Democrat Josh Stein won North Carolina’s race for governor on Tuesday, defeating the swing state’s embattled lieutenant governor who had faced criticism after a report that he had called himself a “Black Nazi.”
Republican Mark Robinson had been pressured by party leaders to drop out of the race in September, amid fears his rapidly imploding candidacy could harm Donald Trump’s bid to reclaim the White House. But Robinson refused, insisting the CNN report about his past behavior was composed of “salacious tabloid lies.”
According to the report, Robinson was active more than a decade ago on the message board of a porn site called “Nude Africa,” calling himself a “perv” and a “Black Nazi,” in addition to making lewd and sexually graphic comments.
Robinson, who is Black, also attacked civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, calling him a “commie bastard,” CNN said.
Stein, the state’s current attorney general, was some 14 percentage points ahead, with about half of voter precincts reporting, when US media called the race on Tuesday night.
“We chose hope over hate, competence over chaos, decency over division. That’s who we are as North Carolinians,” Stein said at a victory party.
Robinson, for his part, told his supporters: “It was not to be, it appears.”
Stein’s victory keeps the governor’s mansion under Democratic control as he succeeds Roy Cooper.
Cooper, the state’s outgoing chief executive, had faced criticism from Trump and his allies over emergency efforts to help communities in western North Carolina that were devastated by major flooding in September that left more than 100 people dead.
North Carolina’s presidential race was still a toss-up as of Tuesday evening, with Trump just three percentage points ahead of Democratic rival Kamala Harris with 55 percent of the vote counted.
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