The marquee matchup for the open US Senate seat in North Carolina will begin to resolve into focus Tuesday,
with a well-known former Democratic governor and a Donald Trump-endorsed but untested Republican appearing to lead the field.

In the Democratic primary, former two-term governor Roy #Cooper is ahead in recent polling against the slate of other candidates who have never held elected office. Cooper is widely seen among North Carolina’s Democrats as their best chance at flipping a Republican-controlled seat, now held by retiring US senator Thom #Tillis, a conservative who has turned hard against the Trump administration on its handling of healthcare, defense and the Epstein file disclosures.
For Republicans, Michael #Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chair, leads the field in polling, with his closest competitor, representative Don #Brown, in the single digits.

Polling in both primaries has been relatively scant and may have masked softness in conservative support for Whatley. About half of the Republican electorate remains undecided heading to voting booths Tuesday.
Whatley has Trump’s endorsement, but that hasn’t stopped the grumbling on the right.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/03/north-carolina-democratic-republican-primaries-senate?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

North Carolina kicks off some of first midterm primaries for key Senate and House races

Democrat Roy Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley lead polls for their respective primaries for US Senate seat

The Guardian
Hi Folks,
It was raining but we decided to walk anyway, as you do.
Walked about 8 miles around Whatley Quarry area in Somerset.
We even ate our sandwiches in the rain.
Refreshing walk.
Has the weather ever stopped you from walking? It has us, sometimes.
Keep walking 🚶‍♀️
Jayne 😊
Keitch.space
#walking #whatley #whatleyquarry #somerset #WalkingInTheRain

Massachusetts Republicans have ousted the general chair of the Republican National Convention from his post as a national committeeman.
#Ron #Kaufman, a former treasurer for the Republican National Committee,
was upset by #Brad #Wyatt, a
🥺longtime activist with #Tea #Party roots,
in a narrow 37-35 vote taken at a Republican State Committee meeting Saturday
Kaufman will continue serving as national committeeman through the July convention in Milwaukee. He will remain chair of the gathering unless he is removed by RNC Chair #Michael #Whatley, according to a person familiar with the party’s processes.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/06/massachusetts-gop-ousts-ron-kaufman-from-rnc-post-00150911

Democratic National Committee rapid response director Alex #Floyd has issued the following statement on Friday in response to Michael #Whatley’s appointment as the 🔸new chairperson of the Republican National Committee:🔸

“Donald Trump hand picked Michael Whatley to take over the RNC because he parroted Trump’s baseless lies about the 2020 election, and Whatley is returning the favor by making election denialism a key litmus test to join the GOP.
👉Putting an election denying extremist like Whatley in charge of the RNC makes it clear that the future of our democracy is on the ballot in this election
– and the American people will once again reject Trump and his MAGA allies this November
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/mar/29/us-politics-biden-trump-updates?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Senate Democrats demand end to rightwing ‘judge shopping’ but move draws immediate attack from Republicans – live

Policy would stop litigants finding sympathetic judges – as in mifepristone case – but McConnell slams move; Biden to visit Baltimore after bridge collapse

the Guardian

Lara Trump says she’d spend ‘every single penny’ of RNC funds to elect her father-in-law.

Corrupt Donald Trump effectively became the leader of the Republican Party, a position he holds to this day despite the many alleged crimes and that one attempted coup.

So it seemed like only a matter of time until one of his family members was literally running the Republican National Committee, and apparently that may be happening very soon.

In a statement released on Monday, Trump declared that he wants current North Carolina GOP chair Michael #Whatley to replace Ronna #McDaniel as the leader of the #RNC, with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, serving as cochair.

#Lara’s qualifications for the job appear to be that (a) she regularly goes on TV and says completely ridiculous things about her father-in-law (like that he might win New York in November) and (b) she’s married to #Eric Trump.
(Eric is Trump’s third child and second-oldest son, and he inherited his intelligence from his father.)

Whatley’s main qualification, according to The New York Times, is that he’s all in on the thoroughly debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/donald-trump-lara-trump-rnc-michael-whatley

Of Course Trump Wants His Daughter-in-Law, Lara Trump—And a “Stop-the-Steal Guy”—To Run the RNC

Lara Trump may soon be one of the leaders of the Republican National Committee.

Vanity Fair

The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna #McDaniel, has told Donald #Trump she is planning to step down shortly after the South Carolina primary on Feb. 24, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Mr. Trump is then likely to promote the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, Michael #Whatley, as her replacement, according to several people familiar with the discussions.

Under the committee’s rules, Mr. Trump cannot simply install someone.
A new election must take place, and Mr. Whatley could face internal party dissent.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/us/politics/ronna-mcdaniel-rnc-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Ronna McDaniel, R.N.C. Chairwoman, Plans to Step Down

Donald Trump is likely to back an election denier, Michael Whatley, the head of the North Carolina G.O.P., to replace her.

The New York Times

You were monitoring so closely but did not know that #ThamesWater was falling apart

#whatley is unable to answer that on #questiontime

#whatley says on #questiontime that by 2026 it will cost the UK £11 billion pounds a year to house asylum seekers.

This value was generated by Suella Braverman's own dept and has not been independently verified

Hysterical, much

#Whatley parrots Sunak's five priorities on #KayBurley without any reflection that the public is irrirated with insincerity and that she sounds foolish as she talks.

But her boss loves her.