GREENSBORO, N.C. – As North Carolinians research who will earn their vote in the upcoming primary election, two names have emerged as front runners in the race for governor come November: Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican.

The executive mansion has been blue since 2017, and a total of three Republican candidates are vying for the opportunity to turn it red in November.

Robinson, State Treasurer Dale Folwell and attorney and businessman Bill Graham are campaigning to get their name on the ballot for the general election in November.

Robinson launched onto the political scene in 2018, when he gave a viral speech about gun rights at a Greensboro City Council meeting. Shortly after, calls grew across North Carolina for him to run for political office, he said.

As number nine of ten children, Robinson said he grew up extremely poor in Greensboro. His father passed away when he was in the fifth grade, leaving his mom to take care of the five remaining kids in the house.

“I come from a kind of nontraditional background. But after traveling the state, I find that so many people share common bonds with my story,” Robinson said.

He credits his mom with instilling a hard-work ethic after she took care of all her kids, while also taking on a job as a custodian at an area university after her husband passed.

“It set a standard in my life that says, you know, it's up to you. You've got to make it happen. You can't sit back and wait on government assistance or government assistance or anything else. You have to make it happen for your family and the people you love,” Robinson said.

The Greensboro native has a background working at furniture plants, was a small business owner and served in the armed forces.

In 2020, Robinson entered the crowded race for lieutenant governor, beating out a wide field of candidates to win the seat. Lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor.

As he vies for the role of governor in the 2024 election, Robinson said he wants to help take North Carolina to the next level by focusing on the economy and education.

“We have the ability now, the financial wherewithal now to make investments across the state, to grow our economy from Murphy to Manteo, to make sure no matter where you stand in North Carolina, economic opportunity exists for you,” Robinson said.

The latest polls have Robinson leading the pack of GOP hopefuls for the nomination; however, his campaign has not come without criticism, sometimes from within his own party.

His opponents have called Robinson antisemitic, anti-woman and anti-LGBTQ. He's called homosexuality and transgenderism "filth." He's also taken a strong stance against abortion.

Spectrum News 1 asked him what his response is to those accusations.

“I have strong religious convictions, but I understand that we live in a constitutional republic. We don't live in a theocracy,” Robinson said. “People who do things that may be offensive to my spiritual sensibilities, I have to be mature enough in this free society to give them their space and to allow them to be comfortable in who they are and protect their rights to do so.”

“People have the right to be who they want in their own space. Adults, consenting adults, have the right to share with themselves in their own space and in their private places. But to share those things with minor children and have pornographic images being shared with minor children, we can't tolerate those things. And we need to stand firm against those things,” he said.

When asked about comments he had made in the past, Robinson said, “I did make a few poorly worded Facebook posts many, many years ago, and I've addressed those issues.”

“But for one of my opponents to say I'm antisemitic and don't stand with Israel, I don't just stand with Israel. A month after the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, I was standing in Israel with the Israeli people showing a strong commitment to them against the terrorism that they're facing,” Robinson said.

Robinson says his main goal as governor will be to partner with the people of North Carolina to bring continued success, remove roadblocks that may be affecting their kids, families, and business.

His top three issues he’d like to focus on are the economy, education, and public safety.