More questions than answers arising from pollster dispute with Mark Robinson campaign

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We told you earlier about a complaint filed by Vox Insights against the beleaguered gubernatorial campaign of Republican Mark Robinson.  Vox – in their filing – is seeking an order from a state judge to force the Robinson campaign to set aside enough money to cover an unpaid $114,000 invoice.  (The complaint filing did not include a copy of the contract for the disputed transaction nor an invoice.)

Once again, here’s the timeline in this matter:

  • Vox Insights incorporated in Wyoming on August 20.
  • On September 13, Robinson’s consultant signed a contract reportedly worth $114,000 with Vox.
  • On September 18, Vox issued an invoice to the Robinson campaign.
  • On September 22, Robinson’s consultant and most of the campaign staff announced their departure from the campaign.
  • On October 28, Vox retained legal counsel to seek a court order against Robinson’s campaign.

A spokesperson for Robinson’s campaign issued the following statement to WCNC Charlotte: 

[…] “This lawsuit is completely baseless. The campaign has resolved all invoices for all previous work from this company, and does not owe them one penny. The campaign has not seen any work product from this company on this so-called project, and the work they are alleging was agreed to by a consultant – without Lt. Gov. Robinson’s knowledge or consent – that is no longer with the campaign and had no authority to authorize it. This matter is clearly being pushed by political grifters that are just trying to extort more money from the campaign, and we’re confident that we’ll be successful in court and these bad actors will be exposed.”

Not much information is publicly available about Vox Insights. The company is registered in Wyoming and does not appear to have a website. […]

Our earlier reporting revealed that the company which owns Vox also does business as Cygnal.   According to RealClearPolitics, Carolina Journal and Civitas have joined forces with an entity called “Cygnal” four times since May. 

One would think Carolina Journal and / or Locke would divulge this and speak from personal experience about their dealings with Cygnal.  Is the $114,000 being sought by Vox in line with what Carolina Journal / Locke / Civitas paid for their polling?  

Did Team Robinson have previous experience with Vox / Cygnal?  We looked to the state board of elections for some answers:

State records indicate six transactions between Cygnal and the Robinson campaign between March 2023 and August 2024.   

According to those same records, a total of $321,700 was paid from the Robinson campaign to Cygnal over that period. So – in these cases – we have an 18-month record of services being provided and bills being paid. 

Team Robinson appears to have had a good, steady relationship with Cygnal.   Why suddenly introduce this newly-incorporated entity (Vox) into the equation? 

It sure would be nice to see a copy of the contract and invoice at the heart of this dispute.  They could likely answer a lot of the questions people have.