NC GOP gubernatorial candidate 'failed to file income taxes' for 5 years: bankruptcy records

11 April 2024

In North Carolina, Democrats have been relentlessly hammering far-right GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson over his extreme positions — which include Holocaust denial, saying that women shouldn't have been given the right to vote, and claiming that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a "communist" (in fact, Rev. King was a scathing critic of Leninist/Stalinist ideology and said that "communism and Christianity are fundamentally incompatible"). And their messaging may be working: a Quinnipiac University poll released on April 10 found Democrat Josh Stein leading Robinson by 8 percent in North Carolina's 2024 gubernatorial race.

Now, North Carolina Democrats may have another issue to attack Robinson on: taxes.

ABC News' Will Steakin, in an article published on April 11, reports that Robinson "failed to file his federal income taxes for five consecutive years starting in 1998."

Robinson, Steakin notes, has openly discussed his "past financial challenges, including nonpayment of debts and failure to pay rents." But "bankruptcy records obtained by ABC News," according to Steakin, "paint a more dire and detailed picture of his financial and business history than has previously been disclosed."

"According to the United States Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of North Carolina," Steakin explains, "Mark and Yolanda Robinson, doing business as Precious Beginnings, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy on January 8, 2003. Robinson had previously filed for bankruptcy on two other occasions in 1998 and 1999. In seeking bankruptcy protection, the Robinson family described a series of grave economic circumstances. According to their 2003 filing, the family faced the repossession of two vehicles and the impending foreclosure of their Greensboro home."

The ABC News reporter continues, "The records also show that, at the time, Robinson had just $70 to his name — $40 in cash and $30 in savings — as well as $4720 in personal property. They also reported debts surpassing $1 million, including $290,525 in unsecured debts and $871,550 in secured debts. Robinson, according to the documents, had also failed to file income taxes for five years."

According to Steakin, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) "filed a motion for the Bankruptcy Court to compel Robinson to file taxes for the years 1998-2002." Steakin notes, however, that Robinson "ultimately filed his back taxes in May 2003."

Democratic strategists are hoping that Donald Trump's glowing endorsement of Robinson will hurt him in the 2024 presidential race and give President Joe Biden an advantage in North Carolina. Trump has exalted Robinson as "Martin Luther King on steroids."

In contrast to its deep red neighbor, South Carolina, North Carolina is a swing state with a term-limited Democratic governor: Roy Cooper. In 2020, Trump narrowly defeated Biden in North Carolina — and Biden's 2024 campaign sees North Carolina as the 2020 Trump state he has a chance of flipping.

Read ABC News' full report at this link.

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