GOP’s Don Brown releases first ad for 2026 US Senate primary
It appears the NRSC out of DC has also come out with an ad promoting Thom Tillis’s little friend Michael Whatley.
The primary will be in March 2026. (The Raleigh and DC crowd doesn’t want you to know that.)
The NRSC is the Republican caucus in the US Senate. If you watch the national news, you might recognize that bunch as the group which refuses: (1) to help President Trump get his nominees through the confirmation process, and (2) to get the president’s executive orders and other agenda items passed into law.
If President Trump really did endorse Michael Whatley, why on Earth would he knowingly support a guy who is so passionately supported by those really unhelpful folks on Capitol Hill?
If Michael Whatley really is on the Trump team, why won’t he call out the DC Republicans for not helping President Trump like they should?
Michael Whatley is a tool of the anti-MAGA crowd. Trump has been ill advised again. Whatley is nothing more than Tillis 2.0. Don Brown can take down Cooper. Whatley does not have a chance. Republicans in NC have been duped too many times. Attend the NCGOP state conventions and you will see how this works.
No question. Simmons couldn’t get better than 52% of the delegates WITH Trump’s endorsement. Not a good sign, but the signs are being ignored.
While Whatley is far from the ultimate conservative candidate and there are serious fears that he will not be that helpful to Trump in the Senate, I think Trump has endorsed him because he has a better chance of winning ($$$$!) than any other GOP contender and preventing a real disaster — Roy Cooper — from taking the seat. It is a crime that the GOP establishment is so set on Whatley that it will hardly even acknowledge Don Brown. It is not the way to run the Party.
One of our GOP congressmen, who is more of a conservative and would make a much better candidate than Whatley in being able to win the seat, went to see Trump just before Trump announced his support of Whatley, but apparently could not convince Trump to stay out of it. That congressman ended up not filing. Trump’s endorsement record is VERY mixed. In North Carolina, he endorsed Budd, the best conservative in that race, but previously endorsed Tillis, who has been an absolute disaster. In South Carolina this time around, he is behind the ultimate establishment hack, Lindsay Graham (aka Grahamnesty) over solid conservative 2 term former SC Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer. Any Republican can win South Carolina, so it is NOT about winning the seat over the Democrat..
Trying to crowd primary opponents out is not what a confident candidate does. Running in and winning a primary gives more of a chance to get known and build momentum. Those who try to crowd out primary opponents from running are exhibiting weakness, fearful that their vulnerabilities will be exposed. I remember talking to Jack Hawke when he and Brad Hayes were running Congressman Jim Martin’s first campaign for governor. Ruby Hooper, immediate past president of the State Employees Association had filed for the seat, creating a primary. Jack saw that as a big plus to have the chance to get more attention for Martin during the primary and build momentum for the general election. Indeed, after Martin won the governorship, he made Hooper the deputy secretary of DHHS. He thought her running had benefited him and rewarded her for it. Jim Martin was a confident candidate as were his top staff. We are clearly not seeing the same in Whatley and his operatives. Instead of building momentum in a primary, they are risking division and hard feelings from these power plays, which is not a positive for the general election if he wins the primary. Running and winning a contested primary would make the winner stronger for the general election, no matter which candidate wins it.
This has sometimes even been a ploy of local party leaders. Fifty years or so ago when Carteret County first elected a full team of county commissioners, the county party not only recruited a candidate for every district but also a token primary opponent to be on the ballot in each district.. They fully comprehended how running primaries helps candidates in the general election, and the ploy paid off. Why can’t our current party leadership comprehend that?
Ya know, sometimes we just have to save President Trump from himself. He has a terrible habit of endorsing candidates that are just awful and will actually do him more harm than good should they get to DC. Whatley is one of those candidates. Let’s help the Prez and send a true conservative to DC to support him–Don Brown!