Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson seriously considering run for U.S. Senate

By Dallas Woodhouse
Carolina Journal News Service

RALEIGH — Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, is thinking seriously about a run for U.S. Senate in 2022 and plans to announce his decision within days, multiple sources tell Carolina Journal.

Robinson has contacted other major candidates also expected to run for the seat of retiring Sen. Richard Burr.

CJ has obtained a copy of polling questions for a survey apparently commissioned by people close to Robinson. One question asks whether voters would be more or less likely to vote for him so soon into his term. Another asks whether they think teachers are indoctrinating students on how to think about religion, politics, and social issues. CJ doesn’t have results from the poll, which also asks those surveyed how often they attend church, as well as their level of support for former President Trump.

Former Gov. Pat McCrory, CJ has reported, plans to enter the GOP Senate primary, as has U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, and Rep. Mark Walker, who until this week had the race to himself.

Robinson defeated the Democrat, Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley, in 2020 to become lieutenant governor, and he’s the first African American to hold the position. Robinson got 51.6% of the vote to Holley’s 48.4%. Since then, he has developed a strong following in Republican activist circles and among supporters of the Second Amendment. He has also become a favorite enemy of left-leaning groups and some media.

The News & Observer, after his surprise election victory, wrote that Robinson, a Greensboro native, went from “factory worker, to viral video sensation to North Carolina’s lieutenant governor in less than three years.” In spring 2018, a video of Robinson calling on the Greensboro City Council to protect his gun rights went viral, with some 150 million views, his campaign said.