Vernon Robinson is the Fundraising Champion in the Race for NC's 5th Congressional District

Vernon Robinson is the Fundraising Champion in the Race for North Carolina's 5th Congressional District

Race Becomes Most Expensive in the Country Robinson is Nation's Top Non-Incumbent

WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- The Robinson for Congress Campaign (R-NC5) filed its year-end report with the Federal Election Commission on Saturday, January 31st. Winston-Salem City Councilman Vernon Robinson trounced his self-financed millionaire opponents and finished first in fundraising for both the 4th Quarter and the year.

Indeed, the fundraising race was not particularly close, with Robinson, a nationally-prominent conservative, raising substantially more in the fourth quarter ($430,689.98) than all of his opponents COMBINED (that combined total being $296,188.55). Robinson's fourth quarter total was nearly four times greater than that of his nearest rival (see chart below).

For the year Robinson raised $1,140,968.15, while only one of his opponents managed to break even the half-million dollar barrier (back at 576G). To put the disparity in perspective, Robinson has more donors in the state of North Carolina alone (over 2,500) than all of his opponents combined have in all of the country (2,490). Robinson has received contributions from donors in all but two of North Carolina's 100 counties, with over 530 of those donors residing in the 5th district a figure not matched or even remotely approached by any Robinson opponent.

When Robinson s national support is thrown in, the disparity becomes even more gigantic. Robinson's national reputation as a fiery conservative has helped to garner him more than 25,000 contributors nationwide, which is more than ten times as many contributors as all of his opponents combined.

The 5th district race for the open seat being vacated by Richard Burr has become the most expensive in the country, due mostly to Robinson's extraordinary totals, along with the willingness of his four millionaire opponents to lend their campaigns great chunks of their personal wealth.

Robinson's total for the cycle of $1,140,986.15 is the highest amount raised by any non-incumbent in the country, and is, for instance, greater than the amount raised for the year by both Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Democrat Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. Indeed, only a dozen congressional candidates in all the country have raised more money than Robinson, and all of them are incumbents. In excess of one hundred fifty thousand dollars of Robinson s yearly total was raised from contributions made over the internet, which is in itself a national record for congressional candidates this cycle.

Robinson said, "I think this shows that I am becoming the consensus candidate for this very important seat, which is exactly what most political observers predicted would happen. People are realizing that I m the only true conservative running. When the local and national leadership get behind you, you can enjoy this kind of fundraising success, and that s what we re seeing right here in the 5th district. It also means when I get to Washington folks will know who I am, and I assure you we re going to put the 5th district of North Carolina on the national political map.

The Robinson Campaign has received PAC checks from the Club for Growth, Congressman Tom Tancredo, U.S. Immigration Reform PAC, English Language PAC, and the Republican Liberty Caucus PAC, among others. Robinson has been called "the early favorite to replace Burr" by UPI, "the next Black GOP Congressman" by The Wall Street Journal, and a rising star , the new face of the Republican Party , and a serious candidate who could be elected by the Fox News Channel.

Click here to view the Comparison Chart for Candidate Fundraising in NC5 and our editor's note on The Winston-Salem Journal.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! This is the funniest stuff I have read in a long, long time!!! You people who are saying you are supporting Vernon Robinson are either joking, or you know very little about the true Vernon. My oh my, where to begin. The things I know about Mr. Robinson. First off, I am a devoted Christian (although Vernon would call me an atheist simply because I disagree with him) and a life long conservative Republican (although Vernon would call me a liberal scumbag because I criticize him). In fact, my family and I have worked with Vernon on some of his earlier local campaigns, something I regret deeply now that I know the real Vernon. Vernon will tell you that he is a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ, but in reality he is a devoted disciple of Lee Atwater. Vernon will do anything to get his name in the paper (which he always calls liberal rags if they don't glorify him) or a blurb about himself on Fox News.
Vernon thinks that framing himself as a black conservative in the south allows him to exploit racial and religious tensions, willingly pitting whites against blacks and Christians against anybody who disagrees with him. Vernon openly claims this to be his campaign strategy. He says that he can say things about blacks that whites are too afraid to say and nobody can call him a racist because he's black. Vernon is implying that most conservative whites are racists and bigots, but they're just too afraid to act on it.
It is true that Vernon has spent a lot of his political career fighting against race based government programs (a lot of which are unfair and I do not support), but Vernon has taken on his conservative "crusades" more for his own political advancement and publicity rather than any deep belief in conservatism. I can make this claim because I know for a fact that Vernon Robinson is a liar and a hypocrite. I know this is true because Vernon's adopted child attends a local charter school at which I know many teachers and faculty members. According to very reliable witnesses at the school, before the current school year, Vernon and his wife aggressively lobbied the principle to place their child in the class of the only black male teacher on the entire staff. Now, this wouldn't be at all suspicious if that same teacher Vernon so desperately wanted to teach his child wasn't forced to resign before the beginning of the school year because of gross incompetence and an unacceptable lack of teaching ability. I saw this guy teach personally, and with absolute honesty, he was a terrible teacher. Given Vernon's political rhetoric, one would believe that he and his wife wouldn't care what race their child's teacher was, as long as they were the best qualified. But this isn't true at all. Vernon choose his child's teacher based solely on race, with a complete disregard for relevant qualifications. I would say this sounds a lot like Affirmative Action, but that would be unfair to Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action usually only favors qualified minority applicants. I don't disapprove of black families wishing their children to be taught by black teachers, but when a man like Vernon so aggressively criticizes the black community for behavior that he commits himself, you can't help but let the public know what a despicable hypocrite he is.
Believe me, I could write for hours and hours about the misdeeds and sleazy stunts Vernon has pulled for his own publicity, and I will try to when I can find the time because it us all quite fascinating, but his hypocrisy is especially disturbing. Take it from someone who had to learn the hard way, supporting Vernon Robinson will only leave you with feelings of regret, and an overwhelming urge to cleanse thyself.

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