Trump Heads to North Carolina to Boost Whatley's Senate Bid

President Donald Trump will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to campaign alongside Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley, as the former national party chairman works to strengthen his bid against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.

The visit is Trump's first campaign rally since his midterm convention in Dallas. Despite voter frustration over the Iran war and the president's handling of the economy, he has pledged dozens more trips before Election Day.

Trump's involvement poses a balancing act for Republicans like Whatley, who need the president's core supporters to turn out while also courting moderates and conservatives uneasy about the country's direction.

Whatley was Trump's choice for the Senate race and, before that, his pick to lead the Republican National Committee. Republicans saw him as a strong recruit to hold the seat being vacated by Sen. Thom Tillis, who chose to retire after clashing with the president last year. But Whatley, making his first run for public office, has trailed Cooper in fundraising in recent months, and polling over the summer showed Cooper with at least a slight lead.

Trump has acknowledged the difficult landscape but believes his presence will provide a clear boost.

"In North Carolina, you have a little more difficult case, because people don't quite get it, but they're going to find out," Trump said during his keynote speech in Dallas.

Democrats have not won a Senate contest in the state since 2008, and Trump has carried North Carolina three times since. The seat is critical to Democratic efforts to flip control of the Senate. Cooper was perhaps the party's best recruit this cycle, having never lost a statewide race through four terms as attorney general and two terms as governor.

Republican pollster Paul Shumaker, who worked on campaigns for Tillis and North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd, said Trump will energize Republicans who may be less enthusiastic than Democrats. But he noted that registered Democrats and Republicans in the state are split about evenly, while independent voters outnumber both. That group of more than 3.5 million voters, he said, is more focused on the economy — an issue where Trump is weaker than in 2024 — than on crime or immigration, where Republicans may still hold an advantage.

"They see the White House more focused on everything but the economy," Shumaker said. "So that narrative has to change to give them a path here in North Carolina."

Whatley has not distanced himself from Trump. In a brief speech in Dallas, he praised the president's agenda, especially the tax cuts in last year's "big beautiful bill." But rather than lavishing praise on Trump, he spent most of his time attacking Cooper as soft on crime and bad for North Carolinians' wallets.

"Under Roy Cooper's reign, North Carolina became the most expensive state in the nation for health care costs," he said, pushing back against the former governor's emphasis on the economy under Trump, particularly gas and grocery prices.

Cooper's campaign rejected Whatley's criticisms and noted that the Republican has faced scrutiny after a convicted sex offender delivered the opening prayer at one of his campaign events.

Whatley is leaning heavily on Trump and national Republican donors to reach voters on television and online. According to data from AdImpact, which tracks campaign advertising, total Republican spending on the contest has topped $50 million, while Democrats have spent almost $35.2 million, with Trump's MAGA Inc. and other conservative PACs accounting for the overall Republican advantage.

Cooper has no public events Wednesday, but the state Democratic Party plans a news conference aimed at keeping attention on inflation under Trump.