RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) — Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor and Republican candidate for governor, is threatening legal action over an ad his campaign described as misleading and dishonest.
On Friday, Robinson posted on his X account a cease-and-desist letter accusing his Democratic opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, of spreading false claims about a daycare that Robinson and his wife, Yolanda Hill, ran in the early 2000s in a television advertisement. The ad centers on a state report, which was recently discussed in a News & Observer op-ed, outlining the daycare’s alleged violations.
“Here is the cease-and-desist letter our attorneys just sent to [Stein’s] campaign regarding the latest false and misleading claims in their new ad,” the post reads. “Unfortunately, this is not the first time Stein and his campaign have been caught lying. He got himself in legal hot water in his last election for lying about his opponent. I have made it clear since day one that I am not going to allow this campaign to be thrown into the mud. I am going to stick to the everyday issues that North Carolinians care about — even if my opponent won’t.”
In its letter, the campaign said, “Stein has a well-documented history of running false and misleading ads. In 2022, Stein’s dishonest ads were so egregious that a Democrat prosecutor went so far as to convene a grand jury and indict Stein for violating North Carolina’s law making it a crime to publish ‘derogatory reports’ about candidates for public office where the speaker ‘know[s] such report be false or’ acts ‘in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity.’ N.C. Gen. Stat § 163- 274(a)(9). It is disappointing that after years of litigation and criminal charges related to his running false ads, Stein is continuing his old dishonest tactics.”
The post references a 2022 case in which Stein was accused of false advertisements against Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill during the 2020 attorney general’s race. A federal judge ultimately blocked enforcement of the statute, and, while a grand jury considered charges, Stein was not indicted.
The Robinson campaign addresses claims in the ad that it alleges are false, comparing lines from the ad to the report. The campaign says that the childcare center was “occasionally cited on technicalities” but claims that Stein’s ad misrepresents many of the issues found in the report.
“No official documents state that the childcare center was unsanitary or endangered children,” the campaign said.
The ad alleges that there were unsecured electrical outlets. Robinson’s campaign says they were found to be safety outlets, with the report stating that it “‘appeared’ there were some standard outlets that should be covered when not in use.”
“The ad also falsely asserts that ‘the daycare center even operated at times without lights, heat, or running water,'” Robinson’s campaign said. “Like multiple other claims in the ad, this is false and misleading. While one state report mentions that the lights had been cut off before, the report then states that it is ‘unknown if the daycare has running water at this time.’ At no point does any state report state that the daycare center did not have running water, and it is false to transform something that is ‘unknown’ into a statement of fact.”
In the letter, the Robinson campaign threatens to take further legal action if the Stein campaign does not stop airing the ad.
“North Carolina voters deserve to know the truth about both candidates and their records, and you have a legal obligation not to publish false smears designed to mislead voters,” Robinson’s campaign said. “In light of Stein previously having to litigate defending himself because of his false attacks on a political opponent, we note that both Stein and his campaign are now on formal notice that his advertisement is false and defamatory. Continuing to air this advertisement and/or repeat the false attacks will be considered malicious. Moreover, failure to comply with the demands in this letter will force our clients to seek legal recourse to the fullest extent of the law,” they conclude.
You can read the full text of the letter below:
Stein’s campaign manager, Jeff Allen, provided the following statement in response to questions about the cease-and-desist, the prior legal action and a request to provide the NCDHHS report they are referencing in the ad:
“The ad is factually accurate, based on publicly available information, and, to date, the Robinson campaign has yet to provide any new factual information to refute the ad’s claims. Mark Robinson may want to hide his record from North Carolina voters, but the voters deserve to know it.”
