迈克尔·沃特利国家共和党主席，计划参加竞选北卡罗来纳州开放的参议员席位2026年，在唐纳德·特朗普总统的祝福下。
民主党人看到了这场比赛这是他们在中期选举中改变席位的最佳机会，因为他们试图重新控制参议院。共和政体的参议员托姆·蒂利斯，在与特朗普发生冲突后，最近宣布他不会竞选第三个任期。
两名熟悉沃特利想法的人证实了他的决定。在官方宣布之前，他们无权公开讨论此事，只能匿名发言。
据其中一名知情人士透露，特朗普要求共和党全国委员会(Republican National Committee)主席沃特利参选。
特朗普的儿媳劳拉·特朗普(Lara Trump)一直在酝酿一场竞选活动。她去年担任RNC的联合主席，目前在福克斯新闻频道频道主持一个节目。但也住在佛罗里达州，如果她参加竞选，她将不得不带着一个年轻的家庭搬回自己的家乡。她此前曾拒绝在2022年竞选北卡罗来纳州的参议员，并在2024年退出竞选，以填补前佛罗里达州参议员马尔科·卢比奥的任期在他成为唐纳德·特朗普的国务卿后。
政治首先报道了沃特利的计划。
尽管由于与总统的关系，劳拉·特朗普被视为在北卡罗莱纳州的竞选中拥有优先选择权，但全国共和党人认为沃特利是一个强有力的竞争者，部分原因是他作为RNC主席培养了庞大的筹款网络，以及他对唐纳德·特朗普的忠诚。
他在该州是一个众所周知的名字，曾在那里担任共和党主席，并且没有可能被民主党人用来反对他的投票记录。
预计这场竞选将在特朗普2024年领先3.2个百分点的州引发争议。民主党人一直鼓励前两任州长罗伊·库珀(Roy Cooper)参加竞选，他被两党视为强大的候选人。库珀的顾问摩根·杰克逊(Morgan Jackson)周三不愿证实库珀已决定参选，但表示“库珀将在未来几天宣布他的意图。”
第一任期众议员帕特·哈里根(Pat Harrigan)毕业于西点军校，曾在阿富汗服役，后来成为一名国防产品制造商，也被视为潜在的共和党候选人。
哈里根此前曾表示，如果劳拉·特朗普参选，他会立即支持她。他写道，“围绕2026年的参议员竞选有很多令人兴奋的事情，但让我明确一点:如果@LaraLeaTrump参加竞选，我会第一个支持她，第一个为她的胜利而战。”
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley plans to run for Senate in North Carolina
Michael Whatley, chairman of the national Republican Party, plans to run for anopen Senate seat in North Carolinain 2026, with the blessing of President Donald Trump.
Democrats seethe raceas their top chance to flip a seat in the midterm elections as they try to regain control of the Senate. RepublicanSen. Thom Tillis, after clashing with Trump, recentlyannounced he would not run for a third term.
Whatley's decision was confirmed by two people familiar with his thinking. They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly before an official announcement and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
Trump asked Whatley, who leads the Republican National Committee, to run, according to one of the people.
Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, had been mulling a campaign. She served as co-chair of the RNC last year and currently hosts a show on Fox News Channel. But also lives in Florida and would have had to move back, with a young family, to her home state if she were to run. She had previously declined to run for Senate in North Carolina in 2022 and in 2024 took herself out of the running to fill theterm of former Florida Sen. Marco Rubioafter he became Donald Trump's secretary of state.
Politico first reported news of Whatley’s plans.
While Lara Trump had been seen as having the right of first refusal in the North Carolina race due to her relationship with the president, Whatley is considered by national Republicans to be a strong contender, thanks partly to the large fundraising network he has cultivated as RNC chair and his perceived loyalty to Donald Trump.
He is a well-known name in the state, having served as GOP chair there, and has no voting record that could be used against him by Democrats.
The race is expected to be contentious in a state Trump carried by 3.2 percentage points in 2024. Democrats have been encouraging former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper, who is seen as a formidable candidate by both parties, to run. A Cooper adviser, Morgan Jackson, would not confirm on Wednesday that Cooper had made a decision to run, but said “Cooper would be making his intentions known in the coming days.”
First-term Rep. Pat Harrigan, a West Point graduate and former Green Beret who served in Afghanistan and later became a defense-products manufacturer, was also seen as a potential Republican candidate.
Harrigan had previously said he would immediately back Lara Trump if she ran. He wrote that “there’s lots of excitement around the 2026 Senate race, but let me be crystal clear about something: if @LaraLeaTrump enters this race, I’ll be the first to endorse her and the first to fight for her victory.”
