Trump seeks to help Republican in uphill North Carolina battle

Republicans are hoping President Trump can give North Carolina Senate nominee Michael Whatley a much-needed boost as Democrats appear increasingly optimistic about flipping the state in November.

Trump is slated to travel to the state, the only battleground he has won three times, to stump with Whatley on Wednesday.

The visit comes as recent polling shows Whatley trailing former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) by double digits in the race.

Forty-nine percent of likely voters said they backed Cooper, while 38 percent said they supported Whatley, according to an Elon University poll released Monday. Another 14 percent said they were undecided or planned to vote for someone else.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the race’s rating from “toss-up” to “lean Democratic” in April.

The campaign stop in the Charlotte suburb of Gastonia is Trump’s first since last week’s Republican midterm convention in Dallas, where he sought to galvanize the party’s base by urging Republican voters to “pretend” he is on the ballot.

The problem for the GOP is that Trump’s approval rating across the country and in North Carolina has dipped, putting Republicans at risk in the midterms.

Fifty-four percent of North Carolina adults said they disapproved of Trump’s job, while only 31 percent said they approved, according to the same Elon poll.

“It’s 2026. It’s a difficult year if you have an R next to your name wherever you are,” Republican strategist Doug Heye said.

The leading issues in North Carolina match the national ones, starting with affordability and data centers.

Democrats have sought to draw attention to an Associated Press report that a convicted sex offender gave the opening prayer at a Whatley rally earlier this summer. Whatley’s campaign told the outlet it did not plan or organize the event, and Whatley did not know the person.

A Cooper campaign spokesperson linked the timing of the Trump event to the story and said Cooper “is the only candidate with plans to make stuff cost,” while saying Whatley “pushed for policies that spiked his own stocks.”

Whatley faces a uniquely formidable candidate in Cooper, who has won the state four times as governor, including when Trump won it in 2016 and 2020.

Republicans point to Trump’s track record of winning North Carolina three times, including when current Gov. Josh Stein (D) was elected in 2024. They are hoping Trump can help Whatley and GOP candidates up and down the ballot.

“He helps Michael Whatley in trying to energize the Republican base, which is something Republicans have to do,” said Paul Shumaker, a North Carolina-based Republican strategist.

In a statement to The Hill, Whatley’s campaign said he was looking forward to welcoming Trump to the state.

“No one fires up Republicans to get out and vote like President Trump does and his visit is an important part of turning out Republicans to the polls this November,” campaign spokesperson DJ Griffin said.

One Republican operative referenced a High Point University poll showing Cooper’s 8-point lead in April decreasing to 5 points in August among likely voters as evidence that Whatley is gaining ground.

But Cooper as a candidate has been able to defy an energized Republican base in the past.

In 2024, Trump won North Carolina by 3.21 points, while Stein carried the race by just less than 15 points. The president won the state by an even closer margin in 2020, carrying it by just more than 1 point. Cooper, on the other hand, won reelection in 2020 by 4.5 points. Trump carried North Carolina by 3.6 points in 2016, while Cooper unseated then-Gov. Pat McCrory (R) by less than a percentage point.

“Trump won by close margins. I think there’s an attitude in D.C. that because it’s gone red presidential every four years with sort of the blip of Obama, that it’s just an automatic red seat,” Heye said. “It’s just not true.”

Former President Obama flipped the state in 2008 by roughly 7 points before losing it in 2012 by 2 points.

Republicans argue that Whately campaigning with Trump can appeal to persuadable voters if Trump stays laser-focused on affordability.

“He needs to address the affordability issues as it relates to fixing the economy and unaffiliated voters,” Shumaker said. “Unaffiliated voters make up 40 percent of the voting electorate. They will be the single largest block of voters in November.”

“They supported him in the past because of their belief he was going to be front and center in addressing economic concerns, so he needs to start to help addressing economic concerns for Michael Whatley,” he said.