Just hours after voting “no” on advancing President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act\u201d last June, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina found himself\u00a0under\u00a0the ire of the president, who threatened the two-term senator with a primary challenger in the following year\u2019s midterms.<\/p>\n
Less than a day later, Tillis announced he would not seek reelection, creating a wide-open 2026 race in the purple state that Trump won three times.<\/p>\n
![\"Chuck](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/7be49ec5-5fd8-4b0e-a9ab-87eb8829f7e6\/tillis-ap-er-260302_1772487919691_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"Chuck")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>Sen. Thom Tillis speaks to reporters ahead of a vote on Capitol Hill, Feb. 26, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Tom Brenner\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Democrats believe they can flip Tillis’ seat; they have former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in the\u00a0battle, who has won every election\u00a0he’s\u00a0ever run since 1986 and was elected statewide as governor in 2016 and 2020 — both years that Donald Trump won North Carolina.<\/p>\n Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina, speaks during a campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris in Charlotte, N.C,., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Al Drago\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Where the two-term governor has all but won the Democratic nomination,\u00a0former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley is widely anticipated to become the Republican nominee\u00a0in the state’s primary elections on\u00a0Tuesday, kicking off what is expected to be one of the most competitive — and with\u00a0Cooper and Whatley\u2019s fundraising capabilities, one of the most expensive — races on the map this year as Republicans aim to protect their majority in the Senate and Democrats hope to flip a\u00a0couple of\u00a0seats for themselves.<\/p>\n Whatley does not have the same\u00a0level of\u00a0name recognition in North Carolina as the former governor, and faces primary challengers\u00a0in Navy JAG veteran and attorney Don Brown and far-right former North Carolina state superintendent candidate Michele Morrow.<\/p>\n But Whatley carries the endorsement of Trump, who pulled the former party chair up on stage with him during the president’s most recent visit to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and called Whatley “phenomenal.”<\/p>\n Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley speaks as President Donald Trump visits Fort Bragg, N.C.., Feb. 13, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Elizabeth Frantz\/Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “The only thing is,\u00a0he’s\u00a0not as well known. He was behind the scenes, he was the head of my three campaigns,” Trump told the crowd of troops at the base.<\/p>\n “That kind of powerhouse endorsement that is very coveted in this state has pretty much solidified where Whatley is viewed in terms of Republicans,” said Michael Bitzer, professor of politics and history at Catawba College and director of the Center for North Carolina Politics and Public Service.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s House primary is the first election in North Carolina under the state’s new congressional map<\/a>, which was redrawn in October<\/a> by North Carolina Republicans as part of the nationwide redistricting arms race that caused state legislatures across the country to reconsider their congressional boundaries ahead of the midterms. North Carolina\u2019s new map was drawn to give the GOP an advantage in the previously competitive 1st Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Don Davis. The historically Black, northeastern North Carolina district has been represented by a Black Democrat since 1992.<\/p>\n The\u00a0change\u00a0has caused Democrats to set their sights on a western North Carolina seat held by incumbent Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards, banking on a combination of a strong candidate in “Blue Dog” Democrat and farmer Jamie Ager — who leads a crowded Democratic field in the primary — as well as dissatisfaction with recovery efforts following September 2024’s Hurricane Helene<\/a> in the severely storm-ravaged district that has played a role in the U.S. Senate race as well.<\/p>\n Cooper was governor at the time of Hurricane Helene, and\u00a0Trump put Whatley –who had been North Carolina GOP chair before he was elected RNC chair — in charge of the recovery effort at the beginning of Trump’s second term.<\/p>\n “I think the big question there is, do western North Carolinians think of the blame going to the federal government and FEMA, or to the state?” Bitzer said. “Democrats are going blame FEMA and particularly Whatley. Republicans are going to blame Cooper and the state government.”<\/p>\n And while these issues will continue to dominate North Carolina\u2019s midterm election from now until November, the most consequential primary races in the state are going to be those for safe Democratic and Republican seats, including a hotly contested rematch in the 4th Congressional District’s Democratic primary between incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee — who is endorsed by Cooper and current North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein — and left-wing challenger and Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam — who is endorsed by independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.<\/p>\n The early voting period has been marked by high turnout among Democrats,\u00a0and Bitzer says that\u00a0Democratic enthusiasm\u00a0combined with Cooper’s\u00a0track record\u00a0as\u00a0a twice-elected\u00a0governor\u00a0might give Cooper\u00a0the slight edge\u00a0over Whatley.\u00a0<\/p>\n “But we’ve got nine more months to go,” Bitzer added.\u00a0“Anything can happen in North Carolina politics — and usually does.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"director](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/68ccfbab-eea2-4a26-8e58-f86827c208e8\/cooper-gty-er-260302_1772488408232_hpEmbed_3x2.jpg?w=375 "\\"director")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>![\"farmer\"](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/57b257fd-8e8b-499c-afc3-6232c77daf73\/whatley-rt-er-260302_1772488092111_hpEmbed_3x2.jpg?w=375 "\\"farmer\\"")
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