Poll time: Brown, Whatley perform about the same against Cooper
It seems the establishment’s strategy of pretending that (1) there will be no GOP primary for NC’s US Senate seat in 2026 and (2) that Don Brown doesn’t exist is collapsing spectacularly.
Harper Polling – a firm with a national reputation – has partnered with something called “Carolina Journal” to offer us a glimpse at how the 2026 Senate race stands. The’ve been polling a general election matchup between Michael Whatley and Roy Cooper. This month, however, they’ve decided to poll matchups between Cooper and TWO GOP candidates – Don Brown and Michael Whatley.
The most current poll – taken 11/9 thru 11/10 — has Roy Cooper defeating Whatley 47-39. That’s an eight point margin. In September, this same poll showed Whatley losing by only 4 points. Cooper has doubled his lead over Whatley in two months.
Since July, Whatley has seen a net loss of five points in the polls. Cooper has seen a net gain of 3 points since July.
It’s surprising to see Harper even broach the subject of Don Brown aka “the other guy in the race.”
For months, we’ve been peppered with lies from the political establishment and the legacy drive-by media about how Mike Whatley is best-positioned to win the Senate seat. Thanks to his DC pals, he’s loaded down with cash. But he’s clearly not impressing the voters in The Tar Heel State.
Establishment forces have been working overtime to blackball Don Brown with the press and in the fundraising game. But Brown — using a shoe-leather, press-the-flesh old-school style — has hung in there. Despite all the financial and political advantages Whatley has over Brown, he and Brown are faring pretty equally against Cooper.
By the way – Whatley’s campaign is being overseen by the same guy who oversaw the spectacular collapse of Pat McCrory in the 2016 gubernatorial race. (The winner in that 2016 election? Roy Cooper.)
Perhaps the pretend-theres-no-primary strategy was a big mistake. Primaries should be looked at like scrimmage games for athletic teams. They are a great opportunity to work out kinks, test out ideas, and ensure you have the best and most talented out on the field.
Invest in Mike Whatley with caution. This polling demonstrates that he is not yet the best candidate to beat Roy Cooper. Whatley has yet to take a lead in the race. In fact, the polling shows him going backwards against Cooper.
If we continue to allow the Raleigh and DC politicos to peddle Whatley the way they have been, we run the risk of losing a very winnable race for a seat the NCGOP has held 47 of the last 53 years. The NCGOP tried the whole pretend-theres-no-primary thing in the 2024 gubernatorial campaign, and look where that left us.
Perhaps this polling info is enough incentive for a stronger – yet unknown – candidate to jump into the fray.
I remember the fairy tale about how “the emperor has no clothes.” Are we now being warned that neither does “The Chairman”?
We have a great opportunity before us in the US Senate race in NC in 2026. Do we choose a candidate chosen by the NCGOP elite insiders to represent NC in the US Senate or do we select a true conservative that has seen the dark underbelly of Washington DC politics for what it is; a corrupt mish-mash of do nothings that tell you over and over that they are representing the grassroots in the US at every turn, but in reality do everything but what they espouse at campaign stops?
Thom Tillis hand picked Michael Whatley to replace him in the US senate after he leaves office. Tillis has embarrassed NC at every turn. He has been censured by the NCGOP. He has failed to support President Donald Trump in his efforts to curb illegal immigration. Michael Whatley will be no better.
Please visit Don Brown for US Senate website. (https://brownfornc.com/) If you have an opportunity to meet him or hear him outline his conservative constitutional approach to government, please take an hour or so to get to know him. I guarantee you will find him refreshing. He is from eastern North Carolina, a retired Navy JAG officer and constitutional attorney with an office in Charlotte, NC.
Ray,
Honestly, I am not impressed with either candidate. I met Brown and all he talked about were the books that he had written and where I can purchase them. Then, he proceeded to teach History. THAT is it. That is all I learned about him.
Whatley. I am still highly perturbed about him protecting RINO Tillis. I am still unhappy with his J6 responses. His COVID responses.
I am not liking our choices.
There’s a current NC Congressman who can beat Cooper statewide & that’s 10th CD Congressman Pat Harrigan. If we could somehow get Trump to pull his endorsement of Whatley & give it to Harrigan I believe he would jump in the race.. He is someone who gets things done in DC & is dynamite on the stump..
If memory serves, Congressman Harrigan had a meeting with Trump at the White House a day or so before the endorsement of Whatley. I agree Harrigan would be a much more electable candidate that Whatley, and more able to raise big money than Brown. Between Brown and Whatley, I think our odds of beating Cooper are better with Brown, and he would also make, far and away, the better senator.
Trump did switch his endorsement in the Arizona governor’s primary and very recently withdrew his endorsement of Marjorie Taylor Green after she went off the rails.
You may already be aware that Bannon recently opined about President Trump’s endorsements of Lindsey Graham and Michael Whatley. The snippet is on YouTube: “Bannon – Lindsay and Whatley Are not MAGA”, 11/14/2025.
“..The RNC is not MAGA at all. I mean it’s a little more when Lara Trump is on top of things but Whatley’s not MAGA. One of the reasons he’s running so poorly in NC, if you talk to the MAGA folks down there, they’re just not enthusiastic about it…” ~Steve Bannon