In a recent political ad from the Club for Growth Action super PAC, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson endorses Ted Budd in the US Senate Republican primary, according to the Associated Press.
Robinson originally endorsed Budd at the Trump Rally held in Selma, NC on April 9th, and in this recent commercial Robinson maintained his endorsement while heavily criticizing one of Budd’s most prominent opponents, former NC Governor Pat McCrory.
About McCrory, Robinson said in the ad, “Now look, I voted for Pat McCrory in the past, but not this time. Pat’s a nice guy, but he’s not conservative.” Robinson continued, saying that Budd, currently a US House member, is the “principled, conservative choice for US Senate.”
Robinson went on to repeat the recent criticism surrounding the former Governor, that McCrory had appointed several registered Democrats to the state’s textbook commission during his tenure as Governor, saying in the ad that, “Pat put liberals in charge of state textbooks.” In a WRAL-TV interview, McCrory fired back, accusing the super PAC who funded this ad of “trying to steal this election through deception.”
The ad was paid for by the Club for Growth Action super PAC, which has already spent several million dollars supporting Ted Budd and opposing Pat McCrory. The committee plans to spend $1.3 million over two weeks running the commercial on TV, which is part of the $14 million the PAC has prepared to spend in the NC primary. Many of the Club for Growth Action super PAC’s ads have portrayed McCrory as liberal.
Besides the super-PAC-funded attacks on Pat McCrory, Robinson’s endorsement of Ted Budd is significant for another reason; one of Budd’s other opponents is former US Rep. Mark Walker, who helped launch Robinson into political fame back in 2018 when he shared the infamous video of Robinson’s passionate speech about gun control at a Greensboro City Council meeting. The two are both Greensboro natives and have since become friends.
About his choice to endorse Budd over Walker, Robinson told WRAL, “It was something I really had to pray about… it was something I did not take lightly because me and him have been very close.”
Robinson endorsed or not, the GOP primary winner will likely be taking on former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, front-runner in the May 17 Democratic primary race, this fall.
