RNC Chairman Michael Whatley to run for NC's US Senate seat with Trump backing

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley is planning a run for U.S. Senate in North Carolina next year after Sen. Thom Tillis dropped out of the race.

Whatley has led the national party organization since early 2024, working closely with President Donald Trump, who is expected to endorse him in the Senate race. Previously, Whatley served as chairman of the N.C. Republican Party from 2019 to 2024.

POLITICO first reported Wednesday on Whatley's plans, noting that his former RNC co-chair, Lara Trump, has decided not to run. Two GOP operatives familiar with the matter confirmed the news to WUNC; they requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the campaign.

Whatley plans to formally launch his campaign in the coming days — around the same time former Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to announce his plans to enter the race. Multiple media outlets reported Tuesday that after months of considering his political future, Cooper has decided to seek the Senate seat.

Whatley and Cooper's campaigns could effectively clear the field of other well-known potential candidates in the Republican and Democratic primaries next March.

On the Democratic side, former Congressman Wiley Nickel of Cary has been the only Senate candidate for months. In April, WUNC asked him if he'd drop out if Cooper decides to run, and he said "any of these sorts of hypotheticals, those are bridges we cross if we get there."

The Republican primary field features only long-shot candidates so far, including Don Brown, an attorney and former Navy JAG officer who represented people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

Whatley will bring major fundraising resources to the North Carolina race following his time at the RNC and decades involved in Republican politics.

According to his online biography, he first got involved as a high school student in the Boone area in 1984, volunteering on campaigns for President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. He worked in President George W. Bush's administration at the Department of Energy and later served as chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina.

Whatley has worked in support of Trump since his first campaign got started in 2015, and Trump's support helped elevate him to the RNC. Trump offered an endorsement on his Truth Social account Thursday, promising his support "should Michael Whatley run for the Senate."

"Mike would make an unbelievable Senator from North Carolina," the president wrote. "He is fantastic at everything he does, and he was certainly great at the RNC where, in the Presidential Election, we won every Swing State, the Popular Vote, and the Electoral College by a landslide! But I have a mission for my friends in North Carolina, and that is to get Michael Whatley to run for the U.S. Senate. He is STRONG on the Border, stopping Crime, supporting our Military/Veterans, cutting Taxes, and saving our always under siege Second Amendment. I need him in Washington, and I need him representing YOU!"

A number of Republican congressmen and elected officials from North Carolina had expressed interest in a Senate run after Tillis dropped out. But they've been hesitant to jump in the race unless they received the coveted endorsement from Trump — as some leading Republicans like House Speaker Destin Hall have said they'll back whoever the president decides to support.

Lara Trump said on social media Wednesday that she won't run.