Robinson is under pressure to drop out of the race for governor

Republicans in North Carolina are bracing themselves Thursday morning as news spreads that damaging news about Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson is imminent.

Sources with direct knowledge spoke to The Carolina Journal on condition of anonymity and said Robinson was under pressure from Trump staff and campaign members to withdraw from the race for governor because of the nature of the story, which involves activity on adult websites in the 2000s.

According to sources, Robinson was reluctant to retract his statement and privately denied the story.

Shortly after this story was published, Michael Lonergan, communications director for Mark Robinson's gubernatorial campaign, wrote in an email to the Carolina Journal: “Whoever your sources are, this is pure fiction.”

Thursday night is the state's deadline to drop out of the race. The deadline to remove Robinson's name from the ballot has already passed. There are just four weeks until early voting opens, and absentee ballots must be mailed on Friday.

According to the sources, the campaign team of Attorney General Josh Stein, Robinson's opponent in the race for North Carolina's presidential seat, has leaked the story to CNN and local Raleigh news station WRAL, which is expected to air later Thursday.

According to the anonymous source, senior Trump campaign officials told Robinson privately earlier this week that he was not welcome at rallies for Trump or vice presidential candidate JD Vance. He was scheduled to speak at Vance's event on Wednesday, but his office announced that Robinson had tested positive for COVID.

Who would be on your ballot?

If Robinson decides to drop out of the race (which he is currently refusing to do, according to sources at the Carolina Journal), the North Carolina Republican Party executive committee would have to choose a replacement candidate for November.

According to elections expert Andy Jackson of the John Locke Foundation's Civitas Center for Public Integrity, the deadline to change one's name on the ballot has passed under state law. Once the North Carolina State Board of Elections mails out absentee, overseas and military ballots on Friday, a name change could violate the 14th Amendment. Instead, any votes Robinson receives on Nov. 5 would go to the NCGOP's chosen replacement candidate.

“In other cases, such as when a candidate dies before Election Day, his or her name remains on the ballot and the candidate's widow or widower receives the votes and serves the term,” Jackson said.

Robinson won the Republican primary in March, defeating North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell and businessman Bill Graham.

Correction: This story has been corrected to clarify that a primary candidate is not prevented from replacing a candidate of the same party. Rather, the state's sore loser clause prevents a primary candidate from becoming a candidate in the general election for another party.