Michael Whatley launches NC Senate campaign, is expected to step down as GOP chairman
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Michael Whatley expected to leave RNC chair post to launch 2026 Senate campaign in NC.
- Lara Trump declined to run, reshaping GOP field in race for Thom Tillis' seat.
- Whatley enters primary against Andy Nilsson and Don Brown for GOP nomination.
Michael Whatley is expected to step down as chairman of the Republican National Committee to focus on a U.S. Senate run in North Carolina.
McClatchy confirmed the news, first reported by Politico Thursday morning, with a Republican consultant helping to organize the campaign in North Carolina.
Whatley, a North Carolina native, previously led the state’s Republican Party before Trump picked him to lead the national committee in 2024.
Whatley and Lara Trump, his former RNC co-chair, were rumored to be considering a run for the seat currently occupied by Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, who unexpectedly announced he wouldn’t seek a third term as planned.
Politico, who first reported the news in Playbook Thursday morning, wrote that Trump, who is the president’s daughter-in-law and a Fox News host, will not run. A few hours later, she confirmed on social media that she would not run.
“After much consideration and heartfelt discussions with my family, friends and supporters, I have decided not to pursue the United States Senate seat in North Carolina at this time,” Lara Trump wrote. “I am deeply grateful for the encouragement and support I have received from people of my home state whom I love so much.”
It was widely reported that Republicans across the state were waiting for Lara Trump to make a decision about her campaign before others declared their candidacy in the 2026 Senate election. The president, when asked earlier this month, said Lara Trump would be his “first choice.”
Whatley has a long history in and around North Carolina politics, but has yet to be a candidate.
The race is expected to be highly watched and break campaign finance records while Republicans try to maintain the narrow majority it holds in the Senate.
Former N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, is also expected to make an announcement in the coming days about whether he plans to run for Tillis’ seat. Rumors have swirled for more than a year that Cooper would face off against Tillis.
The Senate race
Tillis, 64, announced his reelection campaign in December. But a policy dispute between the president and Tillis over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and how it would affect Medicaid recipients led to the North Carolina Republican announcing he would end his campaign to focus on the rest of this term.
Tillis said doing so allowed him to call “balls and strikes” without people questioning his motives and whether those were tied to his campaign.
Tillis’ departure led to a flurry of names emerging as potential contenders to replace him on the Republican ticket.
But Whatley and Lara Trump’s were always the most prominent. Their potential candidacies led to many questions behind the scenes, including whether either even wanted to run.
Lara Trump, a Wilmington native, attended N.C. State. In the days after Tillis’ announcement, she said she was “strongly considering” a run in her home state.
But she is registered to vote in Florida and would have to move to North Carolina and register to vote in the state by September to make it onto the primary ballot, The News & Observer previously reported.
Whatley is a registered North Carolina voter. With Whatley chair of the National Republican Committee, his departure leaves the party looking for a replacement at a time when Republicans are trying to maintain the narrow majorities they hold in both chambers, as well as the presidency in 2028.
This isn’t the first time Lara Trump has considered a run for Senate but has opted to focus on a career at Fox News.
In North Carolina, she did so in 2022, when Sen. Richard Burr announced his retirement, and the president endorsed then-Rep. Ted Budd instead. Budd is now North Carolina’s junior senator.
In December, she withdrew her name from consideration in Florida to succeed Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Senate after the president nominated him to his cabinet.
She picked up the Fox News gig not long after.
Who is Michael Whatley?
Whatley is a native of Watauga County, in the northwestern part of North Carolina.
His political career began as a sophomore at Watauga High School, in 1984, when he volunteered on then-Sen. Jesse Helms’ reelection campaign.
Sixteen years later, he served on George W. Bush’s Florida recount team.
During Bush’s presidency, Whatley worked in the Department of Energy.
Then, North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole selected Whatley in 2004 to serve as her chief of staff.
From there he became vice president of the Consumer Energy Alliance and a lobbyist.
In 2019, Whatley was named chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, and helped lead Trump to a 2020 victory in the state, despite losing the election to Joe Biden.
Whatley is a staunch supporter of the president and has echoed the false narrative that Trump won the 2020 election.
Whatley led the state party when it censured Burr, a Republican from Winston-Salem, for voting to impeach Trump for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Whatley will face off against retired businessman Andy Nilsson and former JAG officer Don Brown in the Republican primary.
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 6:52 AM.