RNC Chairman Michael Whatley plans to run for Senate in North Carolina

Source: ABC News/AP

July 24, 2025, 9:43 AM


Michael Whatley, chairman of the national Republican Party, plans to run for an open Senate seat in North Carolina in 2026, with the blessing of President Donald Trump.

Democrats see the race as their top chance to flip a seat in the midterm elections as they try to regain control of the Senate. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, after clashing with Trump, recently announced he would not run for a third term.

Whatley's decision was confirmed by two people familiar with his thinking. They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly before an official announcement and spoke only on condition of anonymity. Trump asked Whatley, who leads the Republican National Committee, to run, according to one of the people.

Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, had been mulling a campaign. She served as co-chair of the RNC last year and currently hosts a show on Fox News Channel. But also lives in Florida and would have had to move back, with a young family, to her home state if she were to run. She had previously declined to run for Senate in North Carolina in 2022 and in 2024 took herself out of the running to fill the term of former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio after he became Donald Trump's secretary of state.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/rnc-chairman-michael-whatley-plans-run-senate-north-124033485