North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson made a stop in Goldsboro on Friday morning at the Wayne County Republican headquarters as the general election on Nov. 5 rapidly approaches.
Robinson is running for governor against Democratic candidate and current North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
Robinson appeared before a room filled to capacity with other onlookers filling adjacent hallways to catch a glimpse of the Gubernatorial hopeful.
He began his remarks by providing an update on the relief efforts happening in western North Carolina following the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene.
Robinson and his team have made multiple trips to the western part of the state since Helene ravaged western North Carolina in late September.
“We have not been sitting still,” Robinson said. “We have not let any grass grow up under our feet. Our focus over the last week or so of course, has been western North Carolina. We sent the word out for people to send stuff in, and I’m telling you, we’ve sent tractor-trailer load after tractor-trailer load. To date, with all our partners combined, I think we’ve sent about three million pounds of stuff we’ve sent up to western North Carolina. The storm has been terrible, but the great thing has been the response of North Carolinians. If ever there’s been a time to be proud to be a North Carolinian, it is right now. North Carolinians have answered the call of this storm, and we are glad to see it.”
As the Nov. 5 election day draws near, Robinson stressed the importance of ensuring residents of western North Carolina are given every opportunity to exercise their right to vote.
“We have got to make sure the people of western North Carolina are not disenfranchised because of this storm,” Robinson said. “They have to be able to vote. I presided over the senate on Wednesday when they passed the bill to kick in the first $275 million of support for the storm. I can assure you that is not the end, there will be much, much more. We’re going to make sure we energize a civilian army of people to make sure these people can get back and forth to the polls.”
Robinson also addressed the tightly contested Gubernatorial race with Stein.
“Democrats were in control of this state in 2008,” Robinson said. “They had the Governor’s mansion, they had the House, and they had the Senate. You had $6 billion dollars worth of debt to the Federal Government. You had a government that was furloughing state workers because they could not afford to pay them. Teachers’ pay was frozen for an entire six years. The state was dead broke under Democratic leadership. Republicans took over in 2010, and now 14 years later we are not in debt to the Federal Government, we have a $5 billion dollar surplus. Boy, that’s going to come in handy in a big storm, isn’t it? We’re the number two business destination (in the country). We were number one two years running, and we’re going to get our number one back when Mark Robinson is Governor. We don’t need any more phony politicians with these sticker book smiles coming on TV saying fake stuff.”
Robinson also answered questions from those in attendance, posed for pictures, and signed autographs.
