Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley will face former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in Tuesday’s Senate election, competing for an open seat after Sen. Thom Tillis declined to seek reelection.
North Carolina State Board of Elections results show Whatley won the March 3 Republican primary with 405,140 votes, or 64.57%. Cooper won the Democratic primary with 761,345 votes, or 91.98%. The results made them their parties’ nominees for the open seat.
President Donald Trump urged Whatley to run and endorsed him in a July 24, 2025, Truth Social post. Whatley filed as a Republican Senate candidate with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on July 30, naming “Whatley for Senate” as his principal campaign committee. He announced his campaign at a Gastonia rally on July 31, one day after filing and a week after Trump’s endorsement.
Before seeking the seat, Whatley had chaired the North Carolina Republican Party and the RNC. His campaign biography says he led the national committee during the 2024 election cycle at Trump’s request. The Associated Press reported that Whatley had not held elected government office and had no voting record when he launched the campaign.
RNC members elected Joe Gruters to replace Whatley as chairman on Aug. 22, 2025, the Associated Press and The Washington Post reported. At the Gastonia rally, Whatley said, “President Trump deserves an ally and North Carolina deserves a strong conservative voice in the Senate.”
Trump later appeared in Greenville to campaign for Whatley, as EconoTimes reported earlier.
North Carolina election officials say polling places will be open for 13 hours, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Election-night results will be unofficial, with the statewide canvass scheduled for Nov. 24, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
