President Donald Trump rallied in Gastonia on Sept. 16 to boost Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, his handpicked former RNC chair, as the candidate hemorrhages ground to Democrat Roy Coo. The Real Clear Politics average shows Whatley trailing Coo North Carolina's former governor, by 7.8 percentage points. It is the second-worst position among Republicans in nine top battleground Senate races, a deficit that reflects Trump's own declining support in a state he won three times.
Economic anxiety is the core problem. Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll, said voters are linking their cost-of-living struggles directly to Trump. "The perceptions of the economy are reflecting on President Trump, and that in turn is dragging down Whatley," Husser said.
Democrats sense opportunity. They are targeting the open seat—vacated when Republican Sen. Thom Tillis declined to seek reelection after clashing with Trump—as one of four GOP-held seats they believe they can flip to gain Senate control.
At the rally, Trump leaned on crime as a counter-attack. He targeted a prisoner-release deal Cooper's administration struck with civil rights groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling Cooper "a radical-left, weak person" who "tries to pretend he's a moderate." Trump declared Whatley "the candidate of law and order."
Cooper's campaign hit back swiftly, saying Whatley "is getting desperate." The campaign noted that Coo who also served as North Carolina's attorney general, "spent his career putting rapists and violent criminals behind bars and signing tough on crime laws."
Cooper's own campaign has centered on cost-of-living issues, a message that appears to be gaining traction in a state reeling from inflation.
