Tag Archives: Michael Whatley

Something Simmering Beneath The Surface In The Senate Race

Posted on by

North Carolina will be voting for a new Senator in November. The former Governor Roy Cooper is running for that seat against Michael Whatley, who is not as well known in the state. The campaign is already getting very nasty. One group has gone after Michael Whatley because of his appointment of Harvey West to serve in various roles in the North Carolina Republican party. (source here) However, Roy Cooper is much more vulnerable for attacks because of his behavior as Governor during the Covid epidemic. Most of us remember that many of our constitutional rights were trampled. Among other things, pastors and family members were blocked from visiting dying relatives and parishioners, and churches were closed while other things remained open.

On Sunday, The Daily Caller reported:

The public still has unanswered questions about Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein securing early release for an untold number of criminals before his term.

Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper drew criticism since 2021 for the COVID-19-inspired inmate releases that Stein’s office negotiated while he was Cooper’s attorney general. Stein’s office played a crucial role by capitulating to leftist criminal reform groups who sued in 2020 over the pandemic’s effect on prisons, but he skated to the governor’s mansion in the 2024 elections without enduring as much controversy.

The list of inmates getting released included at least 51 parole-eligible criminals serving life sentences for murder and sex offenses, The Charlotte Observer reported. State officials under Cooper and Stein chose 3,500 inmates to release six months after the settlement, though they have been unclear about whose sentences the settlement actually shortened versus those who were slated for release regardless of the lawsuit.

Copper and Stein’s list captured national attention after surveillance footage was released in September that showed a man — identified as repeat arrestee Decarlos Brown Jr. — fatally stabbing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train. The state included Brown on its list of 3,500 releases before his latest arrest, but later claimed that his armed robbery sentence was set to end anyway, meaning he was not released early.

An upcoming GOP-led investigation state lawmakers announced in April could bring unwanted attention on the COVID settlement for the widely popular governor, whom The Washington Post called “the brightest star” for Democrats to run for president in 2028.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. I would like to point out that Harvey West has served his time and was interacting with adults in the roles he was appointed to. Some of the criminals Roy Cooper let out were violent and should have remained in jail.

It is no secret to North Carolina that both Roy Cooper and Josh Stein are soft on crime. It remains to be seen if that will impact the Senate election.

The Power Of The Primary

Posted on by

North Carolina voters have not been thrilled with their representation in Washington for a while. Thom Tillis never seems to pass up an opportunity to stab his voters in the back. Our representation in the North Carolina legislature also has some serious problems. They don’t seem to understand that eastern North Carolina is part of the state and contributes to the general welfare of the state.

On Thursday, The Daily Haymaker posted an article about the importance of primary elections. If you want to elect Representatives and Congressmen who actually represent you, you have to show up at the primary elections.

The title of the article is, “Tired of being *played* by the GOPe? Get their attention with the power of the primary.” Yes!

The article notes:

We told you earlier about how DOGE has been reduced to something being run out of the Office of Management and Budget.  Now we hear Ed Martin has been bounced out of the Government weaponization office at the Department of Justice. 

A grand total of ONE cut recommended by DOGE has passed the GOP-controlled Congress. We’veactually got elected Republicans reinstating wasteful spending the Trump White House cut via Executive Order.  We’ve got a lot of elected Republicans — including our not very smart junior US Senator — trying to sabotage the illegal alien cleanup efforts being led by ICE and DHS.

…We can’t even get Republicans in Washington to approve voter ID.

…Getting Phil Berger out of elected office would be another great grassroots victory.  According to what I’m hearing out of Rockingham and Guilford counties, that is very possible. (Berger has led the NCGOP’s transformation into an even bigger whoring-for-lobbyist-dollars operation than Basnight or Black could have ever dreamed of.)

…You’ve got a good conservative option out there in the 11th.  A guy with a great free-market name: Adam Smith.  He’s a special forces veteran and a successful small businessman.  He turned out to be one of the real heroes of the Hurricane Helene relief effort.  (You know, the operation Whatley was supposed to be running.)  

…In the US Senate race, DC and Raleigh have been trying to shove Michael Whatley down our throats.  Trump has been hyper-pissed at Thom Tillis.  Yet, his political operation is trying to replace Tillis with Tillis’s protege and preferred successor.  The DC party goons have gone overboard scaring all vendors, consultants, donors, and media away from anyone not named Whatley.  The result of all that?

…Someone slipped up and ran a poll showing Don Brown performing about as well against Cooper as Whatley is.  Brown has not been blessed with fundraising and strategy help from DC and Raleigh like Whatley has.  But he’s hanging right with The Chosen One, St. Michael of Gastonia.

The GOPe has been trying to pretend there is no primary for the Senate seat. A primary might have forced Whatley to have to answer for his sycophant protection of Tillis, and his penchant for screwing MAGA activists at every opportunity.

If you ever want to drain the swamp, you need to vote in the primary election!

Insulting The Republican Voters Of North Carolina

Posted on by

The Democrats are NOT the ones insulting the Republican voters in North Carolina–the Washington elite Republicans are!

On Tuesday, The Daily Haymaker reported:

In a memo compiled by the NRSC and obtained by NOTUS, the committee laid out why it believes this seat is firmly in Republican hands. […]

“Democrats will continue to treat it like a battleground, but President Trump’s dominance across three election cycles, voter registration trends, and overwhelming support for conservative priorities all point in one direction: continued GOP dominance in North Carolina’s federal elections and a Senator Michael Whatley,” the memo reads.

The memo points to how Trump won the state three times and how he “improved his vote share in 83 out of 100 counties and made significant gains in rural and working-class communities across the state.”

“Since 2008, the last time Democrats won a Senate seat in North Carolina, their voter registration advantage has collapsed, with a more than 850,000-voter shift toward Republicans,” the memo says. “Nearly 10% of that occurred since President Trump’s re-election in November 2024, narrowing the Democrat advantage to just 18,019 today and positioning Republicans to take the lead for the first time in North Carolina’s history before voting begins next fall.” […]

Michael Whatley has not won the Primary Election yet, and the Plan of Organization of the North Carolina Republican Party bars the party from endorsing candidates in the Primary Election. Admittedly, this is Washington endorsing Whatley, but that makes it worse. Do the voters of North Carolina have a voice?

The article also notes:

DC did this to us at least once before with Elizabeth Dole — who ran in 2002 despite having not resided in North Carolina since the (Lyndon not Andrew) Johnson administration.  That political master-stroke earned us the pleasure of six years of Kay Hagan.

There will be a primary for this US Senate seat in 2026 — despite the scam the political establishment and the compliant liars in the drive-by media are trying to perpetrate.  At least one Republican not named Whatley –  Washington County native, Mecklenburg County attorney and current Union County resident Don Brown — will be on the primary ballot. Check him out. 

The political class in DC and Raleigh fear those of us in the unwashed class sending them someone who can’t be bought off and will actually stand for something and DO what he or she promised on the campaign trail.  THAT is why they try to pretend there is no primary. THAT is why they want to talk about November instead of the March party primary.

Primaries are one of the few ways we in the unwashed crowd get to make our voices heard.  Stomping out the primaries leaves us with the rotten general election choices who have been selected and paid off by the monied special interests. Not a single public servant among them.

This is not acceptable. If Washington pushes Whatley to the point that he wins the primary, I will seriously consider leaving my vote for Senate blank. The Republican elites will use the same argument for Whatley that they used for Thom Tillis–“if you don’t vote for him, the Democrats will win the seat.” We saw how that worked out. If the Republican elites pick our candidate, the Democrats might as well have the seat.

The North Carolina Senate Race

Posted on by

I love President Trump, but I am not convinced he truly understands North Carolina politics. He has thrown his support behind Michael Whatley in the 2026 North Carolina Senate race. I firmly believe that choice does not line up with the wishes of the average Republican in North Carolina. There is another Republican candidate in the race that I believe would better represent the views of the average North Carolinian–Don Brown.

On Monday, The Daily Haymaker reported:

A lot of folks are fast-forwarding this US Senate campaign to November 2026. Many folks are saying: “Hey, Whatley is the man.  Trump has blessed him. Bring on Cooper.”

Lest we forget that there is a Republican primary in March.  Mike Whatley – a native of Watauga County and current resident of Gaston County – will face off against Washington County native and current Union County resident Don Brown. 

Michael Whatley has been groomed and well-taken care of by the Thom Tillis political operation and the rest of the NCGOPe.  He managed to get himself hired as the General Counsel of The Republican National Committee despite having an inactive law license for over six years. 

Meanwhile, Whatley’s opponent in the March primary, Don Brown, has been putting his law license to good use. The UNC-Chapel Hill and Campbell Law grad served as an active-duty member of the Navy’s JAG Corps – made famous by a long-running hit TV show. Brown also served as a special assistant US attorney before moving on to work for Raleigh’s Maupin Taylor Ellis & Adams.  (Firm partner Tom Ellis gained fame as a senior adviser to the late US Senator Jesse Helms.)

Michael Whatley is part of the political machine that gave us Thom Tillis. He is President Trump’s choice, but President Trump will only be in office for three more years. I would rather have a Senator that represents the grass roots than one who is appointed by someone who does not live in the state.

A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

Posted on by

The 2026 North Carolina Senate race is going to be expensive, dirty, full of lies, and contentious. Other than that, it will be great. Among other things, the North Carolina Republican Party wants to make sure that former Governor Roy Cooper runs on his record. That record is questionable at best–he is not the moderate he claims to be.

On Sunday, The Gateway Pundit reported:

A video from the North Carolina Republican Party is shedding light on the troubling tenure of outgoing Governor Roy Cooper, who recently announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, exposing a record of radical policies and governance failures that have left the state grappling with economic and social issues.

Titled “Radical Roy Cooper’s Real Record,” the ad, posted on YouTube, highlights Cooper’s eight years in office, revealing him to be a far-left nutjob whose decisions have undermined North Carolina’s prosperity and safety.

Cooper is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who has announced that he will not seek reelection.

The video outlines several key criticisms of Cooper’s administration.

“He says he’s a moderate, but Roy Cooper’s record tells a radically different story,” the narrator begins.

The article concludes:

Additionally, the video addresses Cooper’s opposition to law enforcement, citing his resistance to supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which some attribute to a spike in crime rates across the state.

President Donald Trump has already endorsed Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley in the race, though he has not officially announced his candidacy.

I believe that Michael Whatley has announced. Attorney Don Brown has also announced that he is running for Thom Tillis’ Senate Seat as a Republican.