‘Outspoken’ vs. unknown. What some rural voters think of NC gubernatorial candidates

McClatchy spent a few days in rural North Carolina talking to voters about their thoughts on who should be president of the United States.

Some want another term for President Joe Biden, others want former President Donald Trump back, and still others want independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

And while the conversations last month were insightful into how voters are feeling about the top of the ticket, the topic also often veered to the state’s gubernatorial race that pits Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson against Attorney General Josh Stein.

Everyone seemed to know who Robinson, the Republican candidate, is — though that wasn’t always in Robinson’s favor. But few seemed to know much, if anything, about Stein, the Democrat.

What they said about Mark Robinson

“I don’t know Mark Robinson,” said Don Handy, an unaffiliated voter from Hobbsville. “But the few clips I’ve seen of him, I don’t like him.”

That was far from the reaction that Jeff Deaver, a Republican from Deep Run, and Terry Benhoff, a Republican from Selma, had.

Both called Robinson “hilarious.”

“Sometimes, he’s upfront and sometimes the truth hurts, and some people can’t take the truth, but I’m for Mark Robinson,” Deaver said.

Robinson is outspoken, often with hateful rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community, Black people, Jews, women and many others.

He’s often invited into churches around North Carolina to give political speeches. That leads many who don’t follow politics closely, and some who do, to believe he had previously served as a preacher, and not a factory worker, before becoming a politician in 2020.

“I understand where he’s coming from,” Benhoff said. “I understand his views. But again, he’s a very outspoken candidate. So my vote will go for Mark Robinson.”

But one thing many people agreed on was that Robinson went too far in his comments when he said, “Abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers. It’s about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down or your pants up — and not get pregnant by your own choice, because you felt like getting your groove thing on.”

Stein’s campaign spent more than $1 million, The N&O reported, on an ad focused on abortion using Robinson’s own words. The ad plays part of the Robinson quote: “Abortion in this country is not about protecting the lives of mothers. It’s about killing the child because you weren’t responsible enough to keep your skirt down.”

“He needs to change his wording about the skirt, because we women, we can’t help but wear skirts and it takes two to conceive,” said Kathy Levinger, a Republican from Selma. “The male is just as guilty as the female. It’s just a matter of being responsible and doing the responsible thing.”

Ray Sharpe, a Democrat from Wake County, who was in Selma during the interviews, also called out Robinson for being hypocritical since Robinson and his wife have admitted to having an abortion.

“He turns a lot of people off,” Sharpe said.

Latonia Jones, a Democrat from Wilson, said Robinson makes her feel the same way Trump does.

“He’s kind of out there,” Jones said.

Voters on Josh Stein

But she added that she hasn’t followed Stein closely.

Stein has served as attorney general in North Carolina since 2017.

Neither had Handy.

“I don’t even know who he is,” Handy said.

But Stein had one fan in Tina Caruso, an unaffiliated voter from Pender County.

“Josh Stein is a great guy,” Caruso said. “That’s all I’ll say.”