Vernon Robinson
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Vernon Robinson is a conservative African American politician residing in Winston Salem, North Carolina. He has yet to win statewide office, but has received attention for campaign ads that are unusually blunt. He was formerly a member of the City Council of Winston-Salem.
Robinson served as a Missile Combat Crew Commander and Intelligence Officer in the Air Force, and graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1977 with a B.S. in Middle Eastern Affairs; he received an MBA from the University of Missouri, and has also been a business professor at Winston-Salem State University.
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2004 North Carolina 5th district Congressional Race
Vernon Robinson was an unsuccessful candidate in the July 20, 2004 primary for the Republican nomination for North Carolina 5th congressional district seat in the 2004 election for U.S. House; the seat was being vacated by Richard Burr.
During the campaign, the Winston-Salem Journal, in an editorial criticizing Robinson, declared: "Jesse Helms is back! And this time, he's black." The Journal was attempting to chastise Robinson by comparing him to the very conservative ex-U.S. Senator, Jesse Helms. This editorial actually encouraged conservative support to rally around Robinson. Moreover, Robinson's campaign adopted the above quote as a campaign slogan.
His 2004 campaign highlighted several issues, especially illegal immigration. In fact, his campaign really began a year earlier when he was the keynote speaker at an anti-illegal-alien rally in front of the Mexican consulate in Raleigh. His campaign, once underway, included one radio advertisement that was temporarily removed from radio stations due to concerns regarding Federal Election Commission and Federal Communications Commission regulations. The advertisement ended with a message in Spanish which translates to "Yo, gringo! This episode of 'The Twilight Zone' was paid for by Robinson for Congress." The radio station, WSJS, was concerned that the FEC and/or FCC might take issue with the non-English disclaimer, as the rest of the ad was in English. To avoid possibly being construed as biased, WSJS pulled all ads for the 5th District Primary.Template:Ref After Robinson decided to change the disclaimer to be in English with the above text, WSJS restored the modified ad, and with it, all 5th District ads. The guideline with which WSJS was concerned required the organization paying for a political advertisement to be disclosed. In defending his ad, Robinson said, according to the Winston-Salem Journal, "I think there might be a debate about 'paid for' (being understood), but 'Robinson for Congreso' is clear."Template:Ref
Robinson takes a socially conservative stance on a number of other issues, and has been referred to as the "Black Jesse Helms" by the Winston-Salem Journal. He notably campaigned at gun shows in the 5th District. Robinson frequently charged his primary opponents as being big tax-raisers, homosexual rights supporters, felons, possibly exaggerating the truth of their records. Although many prominent Republicans initially endorsed his candidacy, one, Jack Kemp, withdrew his endorsement as the bitter primary fight ensued.
In an eight-way primary for the Republican nomination, Robinson pulled 24% of the vote, finishing first and ahead of well-funded candidates but falling short of the 40% threshold required to avoid a runoff. Therefore, in August, Robinson faced off against second-place primary finisher Virginia Foxx, who also was a social conservative (yet Robinson compared her to Hillary Clinton). He polled only 45% against Foxx, as his funds dried up and fellow Republicans grew tired of his tactics. Foxx went on to win the general election over Democrat Jim Harrell, Jr..
Politics and Public Service
Vernon Robinson at one time worked for President George H.W. Bush during his administration.
He was the chief author of North Carolina's Charter School Act and has founded two non-profit corporations: One promotes school choice and the other provides scholarships to private schools for children from low-income, inner-city homes.
Campaigns included runs for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction (1996), state Senate (1998), state House of Representatives (2002, and Chair of the NC Republican Party (2005). He served two terms on Winston Salem's City Council as one of only two Republicans. In 2005 he was defeated by Democrat Molly Leight, garnering 922 votes against her 1,665. Criticism mounting up to his loss included his 2004 placement of a 1-ton Ten Commandments and Bill of Rights monument at City Hall (which had to be removed with city money), his poor attendance record, a campaign flier which some felt implied Hispanics were criminals, and a sense that he cared more about running for other offices than about serving the people of Winston Salem. Robinson congratulated his opponent and bragged of his service as a councilmember. "I'm proud that I was sort of a watchdog on the council," he said.
2006
In early 2006, Robinson announced he was running for the U.S. House of Representatives again, but not against Foxx in the Republican primary. Instead, he sought to run against Congressman Mel Watt in the heavily Democratic Twelfth Congressional District.
On February 28, the last day file for office in North Carolina, Robinson withdrew as a candidate in the Twelfth District and filed to run in the more competitive Thirteenth District, against incumbent Congressman Brad Miller, a Democrat [1]. Whereas he had defended his run in the Twelfth District, where he does not live, by the fact that his children go to school within the Twelfth, he has no such direct tie to the Thirteenth. Rather, he claims that he had several donors in that district in 2004 and that he was motivated by a desire to defeat the "radical" Miller. Robinson faces a May 2 primary against two relatively unknown candidates.
External links
- Official campaign site
- Fiery Black Conservative Running For Congress in North Carolina
- The Advertisement as Run on WSJS
- Records Show Poor Attendance for Robinson
- GOP firebrand Robinson loses Winston-Salem council seat
- "Vernon Robinson's sick commercial" blog with a link to a political TV commercial.
References
- Template:Note Source: "WSJS SUSPENDS ELECTION AD SPOTS; SPANISH DISCLAIMER PROMPTS TEMPORARY HALT OF POLITICAL ADS." Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, NC) (June 1, 2004): B2.
- Template:Note Source: ROBINSON RADIO AD REVISED BEFORE GOING BACK ON AIR; WSJS DECIDED ORIGINAL SPOT DID NOT MEET FEDERAL CAMPAIGN REGULATIONS." Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, NC) (June 2, 2004): B1.