OAN Staff Abril Elfi
5:40 PM – Thursday, July 31, 2025
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley has officially launched a bid for North Carolina’s open Senate seat.
Whatley (R-N.C.) announced his bid for a GOP-held Senate seat on Thursday.
Last week, President Donald Trump endorsed Whatley and urged him to run. In a post on Truth Social, the 47th president referred to Whatley as “one of the most capable executives in our country.”
“President Trump deserves an ally and North Carolina deserves a strong conservative voice in the Senate,” Whatley emphasized as he spoke in front of a crowd of family, friends and supporters. “I will be that voice.”
Following his announcement, Whatley said in an exclusive interview with Fox News that “this midterm election cycle is going to be absolutely huge and North Carolina is going to be the marquee Senate race in the country, and I’m absolutely thrilled that President Trump has asked me to run in this race.”
The RNC chair’s move comes four days after Democrats landed, what they argue, is their top Senate recruit of the 2026 cycle to date, former two-term Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper, who announced his bid to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. Cooper has won statewide six times — four times as attorney general and twice as governor.
Whatley took aim at Cooper during his speech.
“Roy Cooper may pretend to be different from the radical extremists that run today’s Democrat Party, but he is all on their agenda,” Whatley said in his speech.
“It’s a story about how Republicans win in North Carolina. We listen to the voters. We understand the issues that they care about, and we put solutions on a table,” Whatley added. “That’s how the Republican Party has won the Senate races in North Carolina since 2008. And that’s how Donald Trump won three times in a row in this state.”
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