Charles S. Robb's lengthy association while Virginia's governor with a fast and loose Virginia Beach crowd – and his knowing or unknowing participation in parties where cocaine was used – became a major focus in his successful, lightly contested campaign for U.S. Senate in 1988.

First mentioned in the Richmond Times-Dispatch in May 1987, Robb's questionable activities became the target of a year-long investigation by the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, culminating in a major expose in August 1988. Reports also mentioned Robb's socializing with women other than his wife, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (former President Lyndon Johnson's daughter).