Election 2026: Whatley campaign ‘doubling down on winning, not backing down’

Voting started in a 61-day window, the nation’s longest, when requested absentee ballots were mailed out Sept. 4. In-person early voting begins Thursday and runs through Oct. 31, and Election Day is Nov. 3.

This U.S. Senate seat has long been viewed as a major player nationally in the quest for a majority in the chamber. Republicans have 53 seats today. Thirty-five seats are on the ballot, two of which are special elections.

In no particular order, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Maine, Iowa, New Hampshire, Alaska, Texas and Montana have been considered the other top battlegrounds. Democrats’ momentum has brought Kansas into the picture and changed the outlook on both North Carolina and Georgia, while Republican momentum has changed the outlook in Montana.

In the last two weeks, the super PAC Senate Leadership Fund has reportedly paused $71 million in advertising campaign spending for Whatley’s campaign to help elsewhere in the country. There is a report of Old North Action canceling $6.5 million in advertising reservation funding.

“We obviously can’t coordinate with any of the super PACs but based on public records, it’s clear they’ve shifted some of their resources to shore up some red states like Kansas and South Carolina similar to what they had to do here in North Carolina back in 2016 to shore up the Sen. Richard Burr campaign,” D.J. Griffin, communications director for the Whatley campaign, told The Center Square in a digital interview. “That doesn’t change our overall strategy any and we will continue to be aggressively campaigning across North Carolina. We’ve temporarily halted most broadcast to better calibrate our microtargeting and for a bit of message adjustment. We remain confident we will have the resources to win the support of late-breaking voters to win on Election Day.”

Whatley was in Wilson on Friday in the first of five events over seven days. The “Make More, Keep More” event included state Sen. Buck Newton, R-Wilson, where the audience was told under Cooper’s watch energy costs went up 30%, housing costs went up 85% and healthcare costs became the highest in the nation.

“Roy Cooper made life more expensive for families across North Carolina,” Whatley said in Wilson. “He raised electricity rates, housing costs and health insurance premiums – and wants every household in North Carolina to pay $5,700 more in taxes every year. As your senator, I will fight every day to make sure families make more and keep more of their hard earned money.”

Griffin says the campaign is doing anything but raising a white flag of surrender against a candidate in state office each of the past five decades.

“We have five earned media events over the next seven days and other grassroots events as well, so we are doubling down on winning, not backing down,” Griffin told The Center Square. “We have always been a grassroots-oriented campaign and plan to continue campaigning aggressively across the state. Michael has visited all 100 counties, and we are going to be focused on get out the vote in all 100 counties with the organizations we’ve put in place over the past 14 months. Roy Cooper has never visited all 100 counties and will continue to hide in Left-Wing-Snowflake-Zones.”

Cooper’s bid to succeed Republican Sen. Thom Tillis would be trend-breaking if successful. Tillis, Burr and Ted Budd have made Republicans 5-for-5 since Democrat Kay Hagan won election to the U.S. Senate in 2008. And Democrats haven’t taken a midterm Senate seat in the state since John Edwards in 1998.

Republicans in statewide races for this decade – 2020, 2022 and 2024 – are 32-10 against Democrats, a party with significantly declining voter registrations for more than 20 consecutive years, according to State Board of Elections data analyzed by The Center Square.

Tillis decided in June 2025 to leave the gridlock of Washington and not seek reelection. While strong on wanting Republicans to carry this election and remain in majorities, he and the president have clashed publicly on some hot-button issues – be it Senate confirmations or impacts on healthcare through legislation that otherwise is helpful to putting money in the pockets of constituents.

“Who is better and motivating Republican voters to get out and vote – Thom Tillis or President Trump?” Griffin told The Center Square. “We all know it’s President Trump and we welcome him and Vice President Vance back to North Carolina to campaign any time.”

Cooper has 38 years in office: eight as governor, 16 as attorney general, 10 years in the state Senate and four years in the state House of Representatives. Whatley is making his first run at elected office, having previously helped many in his tenures as chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, then as the Trump-picked chairman of the Republican National Committee.