Winner projected in GOP Senate primary as Republicans fight to keep hold of North Carolina

Republicans are projected to have selected Michael Whatley as their nominee for the North Carolina Senate race on Tuesday evening, according to The Associated Press and CNN.

Whatley, a former chair of the Republican National Committee, largely cleared the field for himself early. However, he faced some last-minute competition from Michele Morrow, who mounted an extreme-right, unsuccessful bid for state superintendent in the last election cycle.

Morrow, who has previously called for Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden to be executed and claimed the Chinese Communist Party stationed troops in Canada to rig the 2020 presidential election, got her campaign off to a rocky start by accidentally filing her candidacy paperwork with the wrong agency.

Whatley's nomination comes as Republicans gear up for what is expected to be one of their toughest battles on the Senate map in 2026, with Sen. Thom Tillis declining to seek re-election amid his growing feud with President Donald Trump and his administration.

Democrats have not won a federal election in North Carolina since 2008, but have come close on several different occasions. This year, they recruited their dream candidate in Roy Cooper, the state's former two-term governor, who has led every major recent poll since at least last July.