Rape becomes a focal point in the gubernatorial race between Robinson and Stein

RALEIGH – As was the case in the 2020 race for North Carolina attorney general, crime is once again taking center stage in the North Carolina governor’s race, according to two recently aired commercials.

A new online ad claims that the number of rapes in North Carolina has increased by 53 percent during the two terms of Josh Stein, the state’s attorney general, and accuses Stein of “bragging” about his work on rape kits.

Stein, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, is running against Republican Mark Robinson, the state’s first black lieutenant governor, in the upcoming November election. The North Carolina gubernatorial race is considered one of the most competitive this election cycle. Cook Political Report, a nationally recognized election analysis group, recently changed the race from “leaning Democratic” to “undecided.”

The ad is titled “Women Deserve Better” and features a nurse named “Amanda” from Bear Creek in Chatham County.

“As a nurse, I care for vulnerable women and families,” the woman in the ad says. “Rape victims suffer pain and trauma when they come to the emergency room, and they deserve justice. But Attorney General Josh Stein took years to clear the backlog of rape kits, and he released violent criminals from prison early. Now Stein is bragging about his work on the rape kits. How dare he? Under Stein’s watch, rapes in North Carolina have increased by 53%. Josh Stein has failed women.”

The ad was produced by State Solutions Inc., a 501(c)4 group based in Washington, DC, with ties to the Republican Governors Association (RGA).

According to State Solutions’ 2022 IRS filing, David Rexrode is listed as president. Rexrode was appointed chief executive officer of RGA in 2018. The only other officers listed in the filing are Erim Canligil as director and Laura Ciciarelli as treasurer. Canligil and Ciciarelli were both appointed to senior positions at RGA in 2019. Since the most recent filing is from 2022, it is unclear if these individuals are still associated with State Solutions.

Crime statistics from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations (NCSBI), covering the years 2013 to 2022, confirm the increase in rapes since 2016.

The 53% figure claimed in the ad appears to come from a comparison of statistics from 2016, the year Stein was elected, with the 2022 figures.

The NCSBI index of crime trend data, which shows crimes and rates per 100,000 residents, shows that the rape rate increased by 81.3% between 2013 and 2022.

NCSBI data also shows that of the 3,216 rapes in 2022, only 21.2% (681) were solved. The previous two years had similar numbers of rape cases and clearance rates.

The NCSBI’s reporting of crime statistics changed on January 1, 2018, to conform to the requirements of the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ (FBI) National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The main difference is that the NCSBI’s annual data reports only the most serious crimes in cases where multiple crimes were committed, while the NIBRS reports all criminal acts in a multiple crime incident.

NIBRS crime statistics reports are submitted voluntarily by law enforcement agencies across the country. For North Carolina, NIBRS shows that in 2022, 3,050 rape cases and 3,134 felony offenses were reported by 418 law enforcement agencies in the state. These reports cover “97% of the total population.”

The “State Solutions” ad is a response to an ad run by Stein’s campaign in early June praising his accomplishments as attorney general.

The Stein commercial, titled “Keep,” begins with a statement from Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough: “Stein has addressed the backlog of rape kits, brought justice to survivors and put rapists behind bars.”

At a press conference in April of this year, Stein announced that he had ended North Carolina’s “rape kit processing backlog.” As the North State Journal reported, Stein said during the event that he has made ending the backlog a priority since taking office in 2017.

The backlog has a history dating back more than 20 years and is linked to Governor Roy Cooper, who served as attorney general for 16 years before Stein was elected to the office in 2016. During his 2016 gubernatorial campaign, Cooper claimed he had worked through a backlog of “5,000 DNA tests” dating back to his appointment as attorney general in 2001.

When Stein took office in 2017, North Carolina had the highest number of untested rape kits in the nation, with a backlog of 15,000 untested rape kits. After an inventory several years later, the number rose to around 16,000. In 2023, the backlog continued, with 7,305 kits listed as untested in the inventory, even after lawmakers allocated more funding for testing through the Survivor Act.

“Josh Stein likes to call himself North Carolina’s top cop. But since he’s been in office, violent crime has risen, he’s released violent criminals, and he’s going after radicals who want to defund the police,” Conrad Pogorzelski III, senior adviser and general counsel for Robinson’s campaign, said in a statement to the North State Journal. “Stein is a career politician who will do and say anything to get elected, but he can’t hide from his failed record.”

The North State Journal has reached out to Stein’s office for comment but was referred to Stein’s political campaign team. The campaign team has not yet responded to an email request for comment.