RALEIGH — A recent poll by the conservative John Locke Foundation shows Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson as the only Republican candidate polling ahead of Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein for governor in 2024.
Conducted by Cygnal Polling, the results show Robinson with a very slim lead over Stein at 41.5% to 40.8%; less than a 1-point difference that is well within the poll’s margin of error of ±3.96%.
Stein is the only Democrat so far to announce a run for governor in 2024.
“If Republicans want to win the governor’s mansion back, we need to stop the infighting and rally behind the candidate best suited to win — Mark Robinson,” Mark Robinson’s senior adviser Conrad Pogorzelski III said in a statement on the poll results. “Because while Republicans are busy fighting one another, Democrats have coalesced behind Stein.”
Former Congressman Mark Walker and current State Treasurer Dale Folwell have also announced their intent to run for governor next year.
Respondents to the poll have Robinson leading Walker 43% to 9% and ahead of Folwell 43% to 4%.
According to the poll results, Stein had a 5.7% lead over Folwell and a 2.6% lead over Walker. Both of those matchups had high percentages of voters who are uncertain who they would vote for at this point.
Robinson officially announced his candidacy on April 22 at a rally of around 1,000 people held at Ace Speedway, located in Alamance County.
The rally included video messages of support for Robinson from U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-09) and U.S. Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC). Additionally, a group of nearly two dozen legislators took the stage in support of Robinson’s announcement. While he did not give any remarks, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) was among them.
If Robinson wins the primary and goes on to win the general election, he will duplicate his historic election as the first black lieutenant governor of North Carolina by becoming as first black governor in state history.
Projections by various election watchers estimate the race will be the most competitive and expensive in the nation at $100 million.
The latest campaign finance data shows Robinson with $2,113,675 cash on hand as of his campaign’s 2022 year-end semiannual report. Stein’s report for the same filing report period shows cash on hand of $3,430,917.
The 2022 year-end semiannual report for Folwell, who announced in April, has $35,827 listed as the cash-on-hand total.
Walker’s campaign, which was only recently announced near the end of May, has not had to file a fundraising report yet, but he challenged his supporters to raise $1 million by June 30.
