Michael Whatley

North Carolina Democrats have had success in winning elections for governor. It's a different story in Senate races. A former governor is out to change that when Roy Cooper takes on Republican Michael Whatley in November. Whatley was Donald Trump's national Republican Party chairman. Republicans want to frame Cooper as too far left for a state that Trump won three times. That tactic will test Cooper's bond with voters established across four decades of winning campaigns. Cooper wants to turn that narrative on its head. He says Whatley is a tool of "well-connected friends in Washington" who can't effectively represent the state.

Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and ex-Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley have won their respective party nominations for a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat.

Whatley is a former chair of the Republican National Committee. Before that, he was a chairman of North Carolina's Republican Party.

Both campaigns have attacked the other for presumed failures in hurricane recovery. Whatley pointed to Cooper's work on Florence and Matthew, Cooper to Whatley's role in Helene recovery.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Don Brown is criticizing the Republican National Committee's decision to support former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley's campaign.

A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in North Carolina next year has ended his campaign now that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley has entered the race with President Donald Trump's endorsement.

Political experts say North Carolina's Senate race next year could see around $500 million in campaign spending, and the contest between former Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley could set a new record for the most expensive Senate race in the country.

Democrats still in the dumps over last year’s elections have found cause for optimism in North Carolina, where former Gov. Roy Cooper jumped into the race for that state’s newly open seat with a vow to address voters’ persistent concerns about making ends meet. Republicans, meanwhile, are hardly ceding the economic populist ground President Donald Trump held in carrying the state last year. In announcing his candidacy for Senate on Thursday, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley credited Trump with fulfilling campaign promises to working Americans. Cooper’s plainspoken appeal represents the latest effort by Democrats to find their way back to power.

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.

North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson spoke on the first night of the Republican Convention in Milwaukee.