Republicans launched a seven-figure ad campaign on Wednesday targeting North Carolina Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein over...
Republicans launched a seven-figure ad campaign on Wednesday targeting North Carolina Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein over illegal immigration as they attempt to flip the state red.
The spot from the Republican Governors Association attacks Stein, North Carolina’s current attorney general, for claiming there are “no sanctuary cities” in the Tar Heel State. Stein is running against Republican Lt. Governor Mark Robinson to replace outgoing Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in November.
In a video called “Weak,” Stein’s denial of sanctuary cities is compared with comments from Davidson County Sheriff Richie Simmons, who says that there are counties in the state that don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities. According to Simmons, multiple criminal illegal immigrants, including a sex offender, were released because of counties “refusing to cooperate with deportation officials.”
The video will play on cable, broadcast, and digital platforms.
“‘Weak’ exposes Josh Stein for lying to North Carolina families as he claims there are ‘no sanctuary cities’ in North Carolina when the reality is that counties across North Carolina are taking dangerous stands and refusing to cooperate with immigration officials,” the RGA said in a press release.
Sanctuary policies have been a major issue in North Carolina in the last year. The Republican-controlled legislature attempted to pass a bill that would have mandated sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The bill eventually stalled out during negotiations over language between House and Senate Republicans, but the proposal would have required sheriffs to hold suspects for federal immigration authorities upon request.
Robinson previously said that he would have signed the legislation into law.
“My opponent refuses to say whether he supports this commonsense bill to put North Carolinians first and keep our communities safe because he can’t risk alienating his radical Left, open borders allies before Election Day,” Robinson said after the Senate passed a version of the bill. “But if history is any indicator, we know where Josh really stands: Stein has a long history of supporting left-wing sheriffs who refuse to enforce the law, and any Attorney General who can’t stand up for law and order should NEVER be governor.”
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, multiple counties in North Carolina, including Orange, Durham, Mecklenburg, Wake, Buncombe, and Forsyth, have policies that impede federal immigration authorities, The Carolina Journal reported.
The election between Robinson and Stein is expected to be tight. Stein currently holds onto a slim 0.2% lead in an average of polls. Trump has a five-point advantage over Biden in the state, which he won in both 2016 and 2020.
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