Robinson, Stein win nominations for governor in NC primary election: AP

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The Associated Press has called the gubernatorial primary races for North Carolina.

The AP says Republican candidate and current Lt. Governor Mark Robinson has won his party’s nomination as has Democrat and current N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein.

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While taking dramatically different paths, Attorney General Josh Stein and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson emerged as front-runners in the race to succeed term-limited Democrat Roy Cooper in the nation’s ninth-largest state.

Each faced credible rivals, including two Republicans seeking to defeat Robinson using their own personal wealth to convince GOP voters that he’s too controversial to lead the state. But Robinson and Stein have led their fields in fundraising and won potentially pivotal support from Donald Trump and Cooper for their respective candidacies.

“People are definitely considering it the most important competitive (gubernatorial) race in 2024,” said Mac McCorkle, a Duke University public policy professor who advised two of Cooper’s predecessors.

With Stein, Democrats aim to maintain and even build on their otherwise limited success in North Carolina government, where they have occupied the executive mansion for all but four of the last 31 years, including Cooper’s tenure since 2017.

Republicans control the legislature and the appellate courts. A GOP gubernatorial victory would essentially neuter the veto power that Cooper has used a record number of times, with mixed outcomes.

What both front-runners have in common is their potential to make history. Stein is Jewish and Robinson is Black, and North Carolina has never elected a governor from either demographic.

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