Steady ascent or sudden splash? North Carolina governor’s race features men who took different paths

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

ROXBORO, N.C. (AP) — Front-runners for North Carolina’s major-party nominations for governor in next month’s primaries have taken dramatically different paths to prominence. Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson have been ahead in fundraising and support from key party figures. These and other primary candidates are seeking to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Stein is an Ivy League-educated attorney who amassed allies as he climbed the Democratic ladder. Robinson is a former furniture factory worker with a history of blunt commentary who plowed into Republican politics after a viral video. Fellow Republicans running against Robinson question whether he can win in a state where Democrats have held the recent upper hand in gubernatorial politics.