Michael Whatley

North Carolina Democrats spent a Tuesday press conference painting Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley as an extremist, pointing to his support of former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who lost his gubernatorial bid last year after numerous inflammatory remarks.

At the state Democratic Party headquarters, state Rep. Phil Rubin (D-Wake) called Whatley a “Washington big oil lobbyist” who has “consistently elevated the most extreme forces in this party and in North Carolina,” specifically mentioning Robinson.

Whatley, who has served as the national Republican Party Chair since March 2024, announced last month he will seek the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Thom Tillis. His announcement, which came with the support of President Donald Trump, followed on the heels of former Gov. Roy Cooper declaring his candidacy for the seat, setting up what is expected to be one of the most expensive races in the country in next year’s midterm elections.

Rubin referenced a 2022 remark by Whatley, then the state Republican Party chair, in which he called Robinson “the greatest lieutenant governor in the United States” amid controversy over Robinson’s apparent incitement to violence against transgender people and libraries hosting “drag queen story hour.”

“His support for Robinson was steadfast even as Robinson said vile things about women, attacked victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and said, ‘We are called to be led by men, not women,’” Rubin said. “This election is a clear choice between results and resentment, between competence and culture wars.”

Shortly after Robinson’s victory in the 2024 Republican primary, Whatley endorsed his campaign for governor on social media. “North Carolina voters have delivered a resounding message that they want change in the Governor’s mansion and Mark Robinson is ready to deliver it!” he wrote in March. In the months that followed — as Robinson’s campaign collapsed into scandal over a CNN investigation into his online presence — Whatley expressed disappointment, but stopped short of disavowing the candidate.

“Those comments are absolutely antithetical to Republican values, and if Mark Robinson is going to continue in this race, then yeah, I do think he is going to have to demonstrate to the voters of North Carolina that those are not his words, his actions, or his values,” he told Bloomberg Radio in September.

Former N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, criticized Whatley that same month for enabling Robinson’s rise. In an interview with CNN, he said the former state Republican Party chair “ignored many known flaws that many of us knew about [Robinson] and just assumed they’d be brushed over,” calling Robinson “a ticking time bomb for several years now.”

World Tabernacle Church Pastor James Gaillard, a state Senate candidate, said at the press conference that Whatley “spent years here in North Carolina and also nationally elevating really dangerous people to powerful offices.”

“One of those dangerous individuals was our former lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, and I think it’s important that we connect those dots,” Gaillard said. “North Carolina doesn”t need someone representing us in the U.S. Senate who wants to be rewarded for having given us Mark Robinson.”

Ironically, before Tillis announced his retirement, Robinson had hinted that he might mount a primary challenge against him for the seat. Robinson bowed out in January the same day he announced he was dropping a defamation lawsuit he filed against CNN during his gubernatorial campaign.

Little known by voters

Democrats are eager to define Whatley by his past support for Robinson as he prepares to face an electorate that knows little about him. An August 1 poll by Emerson College found that a plurality of registered voters who were surveyed do not know who he is, with 36% responding that they “have never heard of this person.” Another 30% said they had no opinion or were unsure how they felt about him.

That survey found Cooper leading Whatley 47% to 41%, with 12% of respondents unsure how they would vote. A popular two-term governor, Cooper boasts much higher name recognition than Whatley, with only 3% of those surveyed not recognizing his name. About 6% did not know who the retiring Tillis was.

Robinson ultimately lost the 2024 governor’s race by nearly 15% of the vote, the largest margin in more than 40 years. If Democrats successfully tie Robinson to Whatley, it could deliver them their first Senate victory in the state since 2008.

Beyond Robinson, the speakers at Tuesday’s press conference attacked Whatley over his support for the Republican “big, beautiful bill” cutting health care and social services spending, contrasting it with Cooper’s record of ushering in Medicaid expansion and extending coverage to nearly 670,000 additional North Carolinians.

“We cannot afford a senator like Mr. Whatley who called gutting Medicaid for over 650,000 North Carolinians, undermining our rural hospitals, ‘a big win,’ ” Rubin said. “We should reject Michael Whatley’s radical agenda and send a senator to Washington who will protect health care, lower costs, defend our freedoms, and safeguard our democracy. North Carolina deserves nothing less than Roy Cooper in the United States Senate.”

Jen Kalinowski, the mother of a girl born with a rare genetic disorder known as dup15q who requires constant care through Medicaid, also spoke at the press conference. Kalinowski said losing that care would have life-altering consequences for her family.

“She will never be able to gain any independence without her therapies. She certainly will not have the quality of care and support she needs. She will die without control of her seizures,” Kalinowski said. “We can’t elect a U.S. senator who rips away health care from those who need it more. I implore my fellow North Carolinians to please stand up for what’s right.”

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