NC gubernatorial candidates Stein, Robinson spend millions heading into Election Day

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- North Carolina will soon elect a new governor. Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein are vying for the job. Their campaigns have spent millions of dollars on the race.

A New York Times/Siena College poll released Sunday shows Stein up by 17 points over his opponent.

Stein said he's hopeful.

"I'm excited that so many people have already voted, and we get to finish the job tomorrow," said Stein. "What we have to do is move this state forward because the issues that really matter, public schools, the strength of the economy, our health care system, public safety. These issues are not partisan issues. They are North Carolina issues."

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Campaign finance reports show Stein collected $44.6 million in a three-month period, approximately 11 times more than his opponent.

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Robinson has faced some controversy in his bid for the governor's office.

He is suing CNN for defamation.

A CNN story claimed that Robinson made several inflammatory comments on a message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago.

ABC News has not confirmed the reporting and Robinson has denied the claims.

After the story was published, half of his staffers resigned from the job.

ABC11 reached out to Robinson to speak about the campaign and was told he wasn't available during the day.

Campaign volunteer Robert Burns shared his thoughts on Robinson's run.

"Cross your fingers and hope that everything works," said Burns. "I'm optimistic. I don't know how some of these stories and stuff are going to play, but ultimately I think Mark ran a good campaign."