Presidential daughter-in-law Lara Trump on Thursday announced she had opted against running for an open Senate seat from her native North Carolina next year. That clears the way for Michael Whatley—with whom she formerly served as Republican National Committee co-chair—to enter the race.
Lara Trump, 42, who is married to President Donald Trump’s son Eric, in February began hosting a Saturday night talk show, “My View with Lara Trump,” on the Fox News Channel.
“After much consideration and heartfelt discussions with my family, friends, and supporters, I have decided not to pursue the United States Senate seat in North Carolina at this time,” Lara Trump wrote in a post on the social media platform X.
Whatley is expected to announce his candidacy in the coming days for the seat being vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis, a sometimes renegade Republican.
Whatley served as the head of the North Carolina Republican Party from June 2019 until he took his current position in March 2024. The Republican nominee for the open Senate seat is likely to face Democrat Roy Cooper, the former two-term governor of the Tar Heel State, who is also expected to declare his candidacy next week.
Whatley, who holds a law degree from Notre Dame, is also a graduate of two universities in the state he hopes to represent—the public University of North Carolina at Charlotte as well as the private Wake Forest University. He has held a variety of roles in government, including as principal deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, staff director and chief counsel for the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate Change and Nuclear Safety, and as chief of staff for then-Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.
Whatley helped organize rallies in North Carolina for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and he also was a member of George W. Bush’s Florida recount team in the hotly contested 2000 presidential election.
The Senate midterm elections are shaping up to be competitive with toss-up races also likely in Georgia and Michigan. Republicans are hoping to retain control of the Senate in the 2026 cycle in order to continue to push through the president’s Make America Great Again agenda and Trump administration nominees as the president serves out his final two years in office in 2027 and 2028. The GOP hopes to unseat incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and replacing retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.