Michael Whatley took the stage at the GOP convention in Dallas on Wednesday and rallied Republicans behind his uphill Senate bid in North Carolina by framing the election as a fight for the American dream.
He touted the party’s accomplishments under President Trump and described his Democratic rival, former Gov. Roy Cooper, as a dangerous “radical.”
“The American dream, and families all across our nation are under assault today, thanks to the radical, extreme policies of Democrats like Roy Cooper,” Mr. Whatley said. “I will fight for our families, I will fight for every North Carolina community, I will fight for our way of life, and I will fight to keep the Democratic, radical, extreme, far‑left agenda out of the Senate.”
The speech kicked off his post‑Labor Day sprint. It also provided a glimpse of how Mr. Whatley hopes to close the polling gap in a race that has become one of the GOP’s toughest defensive battles amid persistent inflation and economic fallout from the Iran war.
A former Republican National Committee chairman, Mr. Whatley blamed Mr. Cooper for his state’s rising health‑care costs and for supporting soft‑on‑crime policies that he said have left communities less safe — including “revolving door” policies that led to the high-profile death last year of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutsak.
“Her blood is on Roy Cooper’s hands,” Mr. Whatley said.
Mr. Whatley has struggled to gain ground on Mr. Cooper, who entered the race with far higher name recognition and has tapped into voters’ chief concerns by hammering his “Make Stuff Cost Less” message.
Republicans are hoping the two‑day convention will jolt their supporters ahead of the midterms by reminding them of the party’s biggest legislative wins — and warning how dramatically things could shift if Democrats take control of one or both chambers of Congress.
The gathering doubled as a showcase for Mr. Whatley and other candidates in marquee Senate contests — including Attorney General Ken Paxton in Texas, Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio and Rep. Mike Collins in Georgia — that will determine whether Democrats can flip the Senate and put themselves in position to block the president’s agenda over his final two years in office.
“This is the radical Democrats’ playbook: to raise costs on our families, to impose a reckless tax and spend agenda, to release violent criminals from prisons,” Mr. Whatley said.
Republicans now hold a 53‑seat Senate majority. Democrats need to net four seats to take control of the upper chamber. Republicans have struggled when Mr. Trump has not been on the ballot, but are hoping to capitalize on what they describe as the leftward turn of the Democratic Party. Most political handicappers believe Democrats will flip the House, but are more torn on the Senate.
As GOP Senate candidates worked to rally the troops in Dallas, Democrats offered a sharply different read on the political moment, insisting voters do not buy what the Trump‑led GOP is selling.
“What a difference two years makes,” Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, wrote in a Houston Chronicle op‑ed, noting that Republicans “held their convention in Milwaukee and made huge promises to ‘make America affordable again,’” only to return this week with “another convention in Dallas — this time to celebrate Donald Trump — where their complete failure to deliver on those promises is on full display.”
Mr. Martin said that despite GOP vows to “end inflation” on “Day One,” inflation is higher now than when Mr. Trump took office, prices are rising faster than wages, and the Iran war pushed gas above $4 per gallon for the entire month of August — with oil prices climbing higher still.
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