() Nearly half of respondents said the troubles of North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson did not impact their choices elsewhere on the ballot, and more than half say because of the election America is now headed on the right track.
Robinson ran for governor and lost handily to Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein. Already beginning to slip in polling, the Republican’s campaign was torpedoed on Sept. 19 by a CNN report linking him to a porn chat room more than a decade ago—long before he entered public service.
Robinson has filed a defamation lawsuit.
His deficit in polls grew well past 10%. Speculation swirled that other Republicans would be dragged down with him, while some wondered if, in fact, Democrats including Vice President Kamala Harris would get hurt due to the diminished urgency to help Stein at the ballot box.
Asked what extent an “assessment of Mark Robinson” influenced decisions on “other Republican candidates for other statewide offices,” respondents went 46.9% “not at all,” 24.4% “a great deal,” 11.7% “very little” and 9.9% “somewhat.”
By approval rating, Stein was 53.2% approved and 24.9% disapproved.
The Council of State, often called executive offices in other states, includes the governor; lieutenant governor; attorney general; commissioners of agriculture and insurance; the secretaries of state and labor; auditor; treasurer; and superintendent of public instruction.
Republicans did occupy six of those positions, but three flipped in the election, leaving a 5-5 split. Stein remains, though in a new position. Other incumbents winning elections included fellow Democrat Elaine Marshall, and Republicans Steve Troxler as agriculture commissioner and Mike Causey as insurance commissioner.
Newcomers elected were state Sen. Rachel Hunt, the Democratic lieutenant governor; U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson, the Democratic attorney general; Luke Farley, the Republican secretary of labor; Dave Boliek, the Republican auditor; Brad Briner, the Republican treasurer; and Mo Green, the Democratic education superintendent.
Cygnal did the polling for the nonprofit Carolina Journal. The sampling was conducted Sunday through Tuesday, generated 615 responses and has a +/- 3.94% margin of error.
In respective polls taken in August, September and October, respondents saying America was on the wrong track hit 52.6%, 52.6% and 45.4%. This week, with President-elect Donald Trump two months from taking the oath, it’s 27.9%.
In saying America was on the right track, the poll went from 33.8% in August, 32.9% in September and 38.2% in October to 50.1% this week.
