Sen. Thom Tillis urges Whatley to distinguish himself from Trump
Democrats need to flip at least four Republican-held seats in November’s midterm elections to retake the Senate majority. North Carolina’s seat is held by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who defeated a Democratic challenger in 2020 by less than two percentage points.
Tillis announced that he would not seek re-election after clashing with Trump over Medicaid cuts. In an interview, Tillis said Whatley would need “almost a perfect ten, spot-the-landing campaign to overcome the headwinds.”
Tillis also urged Whatley to distinguish himself more clearly from Trump as he seeks unaffiliated voters, who make up about 40% of North Carolina’s electorate. “If there are things that he thinks that he would do differently, I think he should have the courage to speak up,” Tillis said.
Whatley, 57, is a former Republican National Committee chairman who has never held elected office and worked for years as a Washington lobbyist. Trump has endorsed him, and Whatley is a longtime Trump ally. Trump won North Carolina all three times he ran.
Trump’s job approval ratings have recently reached new lows nationally, according to the Journal’s account, while 58% of North Carolinians surveyed in the Fox poll viewed the president unfavorably. Whatley is less known than Cooper, and many voters who know him associate him closely with Trump.
Cooper, 69, is a former two-term governor in a red-leaning state. His campaign has focused on the economy and rising prices through a statewide tour called “Make Stuff Cost Less.” A Fox News survey conducted late last month put him ahead by 9 percentage points, while the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls showed him ahead by 7.6 percentage points.
Cooper also reported a large fundraising advantage. His campaign had $20.7 million in cash on hand at the end of June, compared with $3.5 million for Whatley.
Some Republican donors and strategists have said the race is lost and that resources should instead go toward defending Republican Senate seats in Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Texas. Jonathan Felts, a Whatley adviser, disputed that view. “If the game was decided based on the halftime score, then Dems would be undefeated in NC,” Felts said. “But that’s not how it works. Dems are running the same playbook this year, win July and lose in November.”
Republicans are also arguing that the contest will tighten before the election. North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd called Cooper “formidable” but said he was vulnerable on crime and other issues. Budd said he had urged donors, super PACs, party committees and leaders, including the president, to keep supporting Whatley. “Please stay engaged on this race,” Budd said he told them.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, recently announced a $17 million summer advertising campaign in North Carolina. The group has said it plans to spend at least $71 million on the race, though Executive Director Alex Latcham told Punchbowl News that North Carolina is expensive and the group would continue assessing the contest.
The candidates are presenting different explanations for rising costs. Cooper and other Democrats blame Trump’s tariffs, immigration crackdown and the Iran war for higher prices at gas stations and grocery stores. Whatley blames former President Joe Biden, with Cooper’s support, for actions he said fueled inflation and allowed open borders. Whatley said those policies hurt American job seekers and public safety.
At a rally in Gastonia, a city of about 90,000 west of Charlotte, Cooper told about 100 people that he was running because he saw “people in the middle class who are barely hanging on and saying, ‘I don’t know if I can make it.’” Dina Thompson, a 53-year-old teacher who attended the event, said living costs shaped her support. “I can’t afford what’s going on,” Thompson said.
Gaston County is a Republican stronghold where 62% of voters supported Trump in 2024, compared with 37% for Democrat Kamala Harris. The Journal reported that Cooper would likely need to make inroads there, increase turnout in urban areas and benefit from lower Republican enthusiasm to win.
At a nearby gathering of about 25 people, Whatley said average North Carolinians’ costs rose while Cooper was governor. Whatley strongly supported the Iran war, arguing that it would make America more secure. He also called for tax cuts and fewer business regulations to encourage investment and jobs, and accused Cooper of being soft on crime. Cooper, a former attorney general, disputes that accusation.
“When you took a look at the decisions that he made when he was the governor, they were absolutely disastrous for this state,” Whatley said.
Michele Woodhouse, a Republican activist in North Carolina, said Whatley was little known and that many people in the MAGA movement did not like him. Trump’s endorsement, she said, “will not carry you through the general election and certainly won’t help you in North Carolina.” Woodhouse said suburban women would be decisive and that Whatley had not connected with them, while many had liked Cooper as governor.
Some voters view the contest as a referendum on Trump’s second term. Troy Jones, an unaffiliated voter and retired electrical engineer in Kings Mountain, said he voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 but voted for independent candidate Cornel West in 2024 because he felt Trump had made too many economic promises and could not be trusted.
Jones said he planned to vote for Cooper, whom he considered a moderate who “ran things with a fairly steady hand” as governor. He said he expected Whatley to vote for whatever Trump wanted.
“‘I’m gonna lower your gas prices. I’m gonna lower your energy prices,’ you know, (Trump) promised that when he was campaigning,” Jones said. “At some point it was too good to be true. Like he can’t do all of that, you know?”