HENDERSONVILLE – A sharp, cold wind blew as two local small business owners stood at a podium in Hendersonville’s Historic Courthouse Plaza to call out tariffs that they said are increasing costs ahead of the holidays.

Lyndsey Simpson, owner of Hendersonville Toy Company, and Drake English, father of a three-year-old son and a hot tub technician by trade, criticized Republican National Committee Chair and U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley for his support of tariffs put in place this year by the Trump administration .

Whatley was chair of the North Carolina Republican Party from 2019 to 2024 and is running for the U.S. Senate seat set to be left vacant in 2027 by Sen. Thom Tillis, who is not running for reelection, the Citizen Times reported.

Simpson and English didn’t endorse an

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