Vernon Robison (the Black Jesse Helms) Makes it Official

Lance first noted that Vernon Robinson (R), the self described Black Jesse Helms, was planning on running against Mel Watt in the 12th district. Now it official. It should not be a tough race:

The 12th, on the other hand, is not conservative-leaning: it gave 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry 63 percent of the vote in 2004, his best showing in the state, in large part because of the district’s large concentration of black voters.

“No one is calling this a close race,” said Thad Beyle, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

But it should bring some good quotes:

Robinson said that Watt is far more liberal than district voters on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to overhauling immigration laws.

“For the first time he’s going to have to defend these lunatic positions,” Robinson said in a recent interview.

Robinson has his own "lunatic positions":

Robinson said he eschewed a rematch campaign against Foxx because he largely agrees with her voting record in the House.

“On the core issues I ran on, Virginia’s doing a great job,” Robinson said.