By Alex Bass
Alex.bass@triangletribune.com
RALEIGH – Yvonne Lewis Holley said it four years ago, and now, years after falling short to Mark Robinson in her 2020 bid to become North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, she’s saying it again.
“I told you so,” Holley said last week after another round of allegations about Robinson, who seeks to become the state’s first Black governor, made national news. “I told y’all this four years ago.”
At the same time, Holley was adamant that Robinson never attacked her directly. It is unclear exactly when anyone knew about Robinson’s alleged activities on websites known for facilitating adulterous relationships, as reported by CNN. What was available information during the 2020 campaign season included suspicions of improprieties by the nonprofit administered by Robinson’s wife, Yolanda Hill.
“They picked him. They knew he had baggage,” Holley said of the North Carolina Republican Party. “They knew what most of the baggage was, and they didn’t care.”
The now defunct nonprofit was forced to repay more than $100,000 to the federal government for financial mismanagement relative to children’s meals within a day care program.
Robinson remains steadfast about staying in the race, despite four members of his staff submitting their resignations last week. Per federal regulations, absentee ballots had to be mailed to overseas military personnel and other civil servants by Sept. 21. Robinson’s name is on the ballot.
Still, he was not allowed to speak at Republican Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s rally in Raleigh last week. Nor was he invited to Trump’s Sept. 21 rally in Wilmington. He held his own event in Fayetteville. Robinson has trailed Attorney General Josh Stein by up to 10 percentage points in multiple polls throughout the gubernatorial campaign.
“Polls have consistently underestimated Republican support in North Carolina for several cycles now, and with a large portion of the electorate still undecided as we continue to ramp up our efforts on the ground and on the airwaves, Mark Robinson remains in a strong position to win in November,” campaign communications director Mike Lonergan said.
Stein’s fundraising has thrived consistently at nearly twice the rate of Robinson’s. Lonergan chastised Stein for his refusal to debate Robinson. Stein has told multiple media outlets he will not participate in a debate.
Stein has been endorsed by a landmark collective group of Black political action committees, including the Raleigh Wake Citizens Association and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.
“We hope that the united front of this PAC shows to our Black community where the leadership that they have depended on for so many years is on that question,” Steve Bowden, of the Greensboro-based George C. Simkins PAC, said on Sept. 4 about the Stein endorsement.
