Mark Robinson’s remaining days on the campaign trail are jam-packed with rallies, his campaign says — and they’re not with Donald Trump.
The race for governor appears to have strayed out of reach for Republicans. Democratic nominee Attorney General Josh Stein has a significant fundraising advantage and a double-digit lead in the polls over Robinson, the state’s current lieutenant governor. The Republican Governors Association has made no placements for pro-Robinson ads in the final week. A portion of his campaign staff resigned in the days following CNN’s bombshell report that Robinson had a history of posting sexually explicit and racist messages on a porn website chat forum. And Trump himself, once a major endorser, has attempted to draw distance between his campaign and Robinson’s.
Inside the Robinson operation, the team is putting on blinders and silencing the noise, insisting that despite it all, Republicans have a path toward victory in the governor’s race.