GRAPEVINE, Texas — Michael Whatley, the Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina, is in a crucial race that will be key to helping the GOP keep control of the Senate during the midterm elections. He has the support of President Donald Trump in his campaign.
But he faces a formidable foe in former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is also seeking to replace outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC). Cooper has never lost a race in the Tar Heel State, a perennial swing state.
Trump’s approval numbers have fallen precipitously over the past year, yet Whatley is wholeheartedly sticking with the administration even as the GOP frets about the upcoming November elections.
“Having the support of President Trump is a net positive in a big way here in North Carolina, and it was great to have the vice president down here just a couple of weeks ago,” Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman under Trump, told the Washington Examiner. “And to have their support is tremendously important for us down here.”
In his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Whatley also reiterated his stance as a Republican candidate who will support Trump’s agenda on Capitol Hill.
“We need to make sure that we have a champion for the conservative cause. We need to make sure that we have an ally for Donald Trump in the United States Senate,” he told the crowd. “That’s what I’m going to be when I beat Roy Cooper.”
The president won North Carolina in all three of his presidential campaigns in 2016, 2020, and 2024. Trump also hosted an affordability rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, late last year, where he claimed he would restore North Carolina’s furniture industry.
Yet a February survey from Catawba College showed that just 38% of North Carolinians are confident in Trump’s handling of the overall economy, compared to 46% who are not.
Whatley said his campaign will focus on several key issues, including the economy, crime, and support for the military, or what he calls the “North Carolina first agenda.”
“We need economic policies that are going to create jobs, that are going to raise wages, that are going to raise take-home pay, that are going to lower costs,” he said. “So that’s a combination of tax policy, trade policy, and regulatory policies. And you know, those are the same types of issues that the president ran on when it comes to the economy.”
Trump’s handling of the Iran war could also play a role in the North Carolina Senate race, as rising gas prices have stirred up more economic anxiety for voters.
According to the Pew Research Center, roughly 6-in-10 Americans, 61%, disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war, while just 37% approve.
“Well, we’ll have to see,” Whatley said when asked about the war’s impact on his race. “I know the president is very focused right now on making sure that we accomplish our goals in Iran and get out. And the goals are strongly supported across the board, down here in North Carolina, ensuring that Iran does not have the capacity to deliver nuclear payloads to Europe or the United States, or the capacity to continue to export terrorism.”
A new Carolina Journal poll, conducted after the state’s primaries, showed Whatley trailing Cooper by eight points, 49% to 41%. But Whatley could overcome the gap with eight more months of campaigning still left.
If Democrats have any chance of flipping the Senate, winning in North Carolina is an absolute necessity in addition to flipping a Texas Senate seat currently represented by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
The former RNC chairman, however, appeared confident he would prevail over Cooper, claiming his past leadership in raising taxes would turn away voters.
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“Good policy is good politics here in North Carolina and anywhere else, you know, we are a purple state,” said Whatley. “And the thing that’s going to work with our campaign is getting out to all 100 counties, every community, talking to every family about the issues that they care about.”
“When the voters of North Carolina understand the choice in this election between a strong economy and safe kids and communities, then that means, you know, they’re going to vote that way, and that means they’re going to vote for me,” he added.
