As Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson allegations loom, Republicans work to remain focused on policies

NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) -- A day after Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson addressed allegations made against him in a CNN report during campaign stops in Wilkesboro and Boone, Republicans are continuing to face questions over the claims.

The claims, which ABC News has not independently verified, focus on controversial comments Robinson allegedly made on a porn site years ago. Robinson has denied them, calling them "salacious lies." On Monday, his campaign announced it had retained legal counsel to investigate.

"We expected some bombshells. I don't think we expected anything of this magnitude," said Steve Bergstrom, who formerly served as Wake County GOP Chair.

During the primaries, the Wake County GOP held a gubernatorial debate, in which Robinson did not participate.

"I think he refused to show up because a lot of the candidates knew that there were serious issues with his campaign, with his past, and they wanted to bring it up so the Republicans could know the real truth behind everything and make an informed decision," said Bergstrom.

Treasurer Dale Folwell, who was one of Robinson's primary opponents, serves on the Council of State with him.

"My observation in being elected office for a long time is that he's been the most AWOL elected official of my lifetime," said Folwell.

Robinson captured 65% of the vote during the March primary, with Folwell pointing to endorsements from high-level party figures as playing a major role behind his win.

"As I've said in so many instances right now, and especially in Republican primaries, we have selections which are then followed by elections," Folwell shared.

He expressed concerns about Robinson's job performance and controversies.

"(Lt. Gov. Robinson) showed zero interest in me explaining to him how the Treasurer's office works, how the State budget works. We manage an amount of money in this office eight times larger in the state budget. Eight. So it's ironic that somebody who wants to be the governor or is the lieutenant governor just had no interest in how all this works. So I hope that going forward, the voters will not waste their vote on anyone who does not fill out a job application, refuses to show up for a job interview in terms of these debates, and will not be accessible to answer either the press or the public's questions on these important topics," Folwell explained.

While Bergstrom does not believe these allegations against Robinson will depress Republican turnout, he's worried about the impact it could have with other voters.

"I do think that it will sway unaffiliated voters, which is the biggest bloc of voters, especially here in Wake County, from voting down-ballot Republican. And so it's going to have a huge impact. You've seen it in the past with other candidates where the down-ballot has been affected tremendously," said Bergstrom.

Michele Woodhouse, a former Congressional candidate who serves as GOP Chair for the 11th Congressional District, encouraged candidates to key in on policy.

"Even in light of this situation, they're staying focused on their own races, really delivering key solution messages for voters in North Carolina. And that's what the voters of North Carolina deserve and that's what they want," said Woodhouse.

In the past 24 hours, Republican candidates have released statements regarding the allegations, including Congressman Dan Bishop (running for Attorney General), Hal Weatherman (running for Lieutenant Governor), and Brad Briner (running for Treasurer).

A spokesperson for The Republican Governor's Association told ABC 11 it has no ad buys in place moving forward for the gubernatorial race in the state.

"If you look at what's going to happen in a gubernatorial race, millions upon millions of dollars are going to be shifted from fighting against Mark Robinson because in their mind, in the Democrats' mind, that election is won, it's done. Now they're going to focus all of their sources on these toss-up races. And these (down-ballot) candidates are suffering because of that," said Bergstrom.

Six weeks out until Election Day, Folwell discussed what he'll be working towards.

"In every point over the next few weeks, try to return our party to a party that I joined nearly 50 years ago which was based on conservatism, which means to save - that's the root word - common sense, courtesy, humanity, humility and ethics." said Folwell.