Under the Dome: Stein focuses on IVF, and Robinson takes on Tillis

Good morning and welcome to your Sunday Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Dawn Vaughan, the Capitol bureau chief here at The News & Observer. The governor’s race is my beat, and I’m here with the latest you should know about the campaigns of Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson as they battle for the mansion on Blount Street.

IVF in NC

Stein campaigned in Burlington this week, talking with voters, and in his role as attorney general he participated in a news conference with Democratic U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross about wanting to protect North Carolinians’ access to in-vitro fertilization by codifying it in federal and state law.

Stein said they “are not going to allow a ban on IVF to happen here in North Carolina. We want to assure the women of North Carolina that we will fight with everything we’ve got to continue to protect their right to make decisions about shaping their own families. Having a child through IVF represents a miracle.”

As I wrote about this past week, abortion and IVF will be campaign issues this year at the state and federal levels, after the renewed attention on IVF in Alabama.

So far, N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore says, he doesn’t expect there to be a bill about IVF in the legislature. But Republicans are only just now starting conversations about what they want to do when the short session begins April 24.

Robinson on the radio

Progress NC Action, which supports Democrats, is airing ads in English and Spanish on several radio stations with clips from Robinson speeches about everything from reparations to guns. The group is paying six figures to air ads, including in the Raleigh, Charlotte and Greensboro areas and Rockingham and Harnett counties.

Speaking of the radio, Robinson went on a radio show with Fox News Radio personality Brian Kilmeade this past week. Robinson said that being the first Black governor would be “quite satisfying” to him because it would be historic.

Robinson said he knows that he’s being “highly scrutinized” for what he says. The 13-minute podcast segment included Robinson being asked about feminism, Muslims and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis.

“I think that feminists have done great work for this country as far as pushing equal rights for women,” he said, referencing gains in the workplace and politics. He also reiterated his opposition to transgender women playing on women’s sports teams.

Robinson also said he does not deny the Holocaust happened.

“Of course the Holocaust happened, and anyone who denies it, I think is an absolute fool,” he said.

And on Islam:

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Muslim faith. The vast majority of Muslims are absolutely peaceful people. ... we can’t blame the entire religion for the radicals that exist inside it,” Robinson said.

And then the interview came to a prominent fellow Republican: U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis. Tillis backed Robinson primary opponent Bill Graham, who finished third. Robinson isn’t happy about it.

Tillis has “abandoned the base of our party,” Robinson claimed on the radio show.

Robinson also said he wants a “new Republican Party” that embraces more conservatives.

“We’re going to drag it back to where it needs to be, a party that’s here for everybody, not just the upper-echelon folks like Thom Tillis,” Robinson said.

Tillis’ hardscrabble childhood is a well known story, and he went on to a successful corporate career ahead of his political career, which included serving as the state’s House speaker before becoming a U.S. senator.

Keep up with Under the Dome podcast, too

You’ll hear from me a lot more frequently in our Under the Dome newsletters when it comes to news about the governor’s race. And I also host our weekly Under the Dome podcast, which posts every Monday morning.

Be sure to listen to our new podcast dropping tomorrow. My guest is a name you’ve likely heard often in North Carolina politics: Colin Campbell, WUNC’s Capitol bureau chief. We break down what we can expect from the General Assembly’s short session now that Moore is heading to Congress, others are leaving or campaigning for reelection, and how that all plays into policy.

Don’t forget to follow our Under the Dome tweets and listen to our Under the Dome podcast to stay up to date.

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