With apologies to Mark Twain, the reported campaign death of Republican Michael Whatley from lack of ongoing cash from the National Republican Senatorial Committee was an exaggeration.
Or as Chairman Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina says, “Hogwash!”
“The media is desperate to hand Democrats a win, but this is a new low … 100% fake news!” Scott wrote on social media. “Trust in media is at an all-time low, and this is exactly why.”
Two reporters for the media outlet Politico said a closed-door meeting Wednesday included a focus on spending to defend Republican U.S. Senate seats out of Maine, Alaska, Ohio, Iowa and Texas, and making efforts to flip Democrat seats from Michigan and New Hampshire. Four anonymous sources were cited.
The headline for the story says North Carolina and Georgia are left off. Those would be the races of Republican Michael Whatley against Democrat Roy Cooper in the former, and Republican Mike Collins and Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff in the latter.
Nathan Brand, senior advisor to Scott and in the room, said the story is “entirely made up.”
On social media, Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote in part, “This completely fabricated story should be retracted and Politico should be embarrassed. Chairman Scott didn’t make any spending announcements at lunch, and he praised Michael Whatley as an example of a candidate who has polling momentum on his side.”
Published reports say about $8 million to support Whatley in July and August has been made by the committee. That amount notwithstanding as significant, more money several times over is being funneled into Whatley’s campaign by super political action committees.
This U.S. Senate seat is viewed as a major player nationally in the quest for a majority in the chamber. Republicans have 53 seats today. In no particular order, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Maine, Iowa, New Hampshire, Alaska, Texas and Montana are the other top battlegrounds among 35 races. Two of those are special elections, the other 33 are in regular rotation.
Whatley is seeking his first elected public office. He was the hand-picked chairman of the Republican National Committee by Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential cycle.
Cooper has 38 years in elected public office, dating to his first win in the North Carolina House of Representatives five decades ago, time in the state Senate, four four-year terms as state attorney general, and the maximum allowed two four-year terms as governor.
Most recently in polls, Cooper has led Whatley 49.2%-34.1% in the Carolina Journal’s polling from Sept. 13-15 and only 48.4%-42.5% in the InsiderAdvantage poll’s sampling Sept. 16-17.
Cooper’s bid to succeed two-term Republican Sen. Thom Tillis would be trend-breaking if successful. Tillis, Richard Burr and Ted Budd have made Republicans 5-for-5 since Democrat Kay Hagan won election to the U.S. Senate in 2008. And Democrats haven’t taken a midterm Senate seat in the state since John Edwards in 1998.
Republicans in statewide races for this decade – 2020, 2022 and 2024 – are 32-10 against Democrats, a party with significantly declining voter registrations for more than 20 consecutive years, according to State Board of Elections data analyzed by The Center Square.
Absentee voting began on Sept. 4 with the mailing of ballots to the nearly 50,000 requesting them, opening a 61-day window to Nov. 3. Oct. 9 is the voter registration deadline.
Absentee requests do not require a reason; anyone can file with their respective counties. The deadline for an absentee ballot in the mail to be in a county election board office is when the polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 3; the request deadline is 5 p.m. on Oct. 20.
Early in-person voting is Oct. 15-31, and same-day registration is permitted.
