Several senior staff members have resigned from Republican Mark Robinson’s campaign for North Carolina governor as old posts he allegedly wrote on a porn site upend his campaign and threaten the GOP’s prospects in a key battleground state.
Robinson’s campaign announced Sunday that four senior leaders had stepped down: campaign manager Chris Rodriguez; general consultant Conrad Pogorzelski III; finance director Heather Whillier; and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk.
“I appreciate 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,” Robinson, the lieutenant governor of North Carolina, said in a statement. “I look forward to announcing new staff roles in the coming days.”
The departures came days after a bombshell CNN report linked Robinson to the account of a porn site user who once argued for the reinstatement of slavery, detailed an affair with his wife’s sister and called himself a “black NAZI.”
The Washington Post has also obtained screenshots of the posts and found that the same username, “minisoldr,” praised Adolf Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf.” Robinson has denied writing the posts.
The state Republican Party stuck by Robinson, but GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has distanced himself, and Robinson was conspicuously absent at Trump’s rally this weekend in Wilmington, N.C. Trump, who endorsed Robinson in the GOP primary, has not addressed this past week’s controversy.
Robinson stayed in the race past a Thursday deadline to withdraw, despite pressure from some in his party.
Senior state legislative leaders have worried the fallout will cost them their supermajority in the General Assembly and continued to push Robinson to drop out after the deadline, according to a North Carolina Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the race candidly.
Democrats hope the Robinson drama will bolster their chances in North Carolina, a critical part of Trump’s most likely paths to victory in the electoral college.
Robinson has consistently trailed Democratic opponent Josh Stein in polls, and Republicans expect him to lose. In his statement Sunday, Robinson argued polls have repeatedly underestimated Republicans in North Carolina and said he would press forward in the race.
Amy Gardner contributed to this report.