As NC voters lose faith in the economy, Cooper and Whatley visit Triangle promising hope

High gas prices and trade wars have driven up the cost of all kinds of goods, leaving voters less satisfied with the economy. It’s why Republican Michael Whatley and Democrat Roy Cooper — candidates running to be North Carolina's newest U.S. senator — have been laser-focused on affordability during campaign events this week, including dueling events in the Triangle Thursday.  

“The economy is obviously a significant part of the conversation that we're having with every family, with every community across the state,” Whatley said Thursday after an economic roundtable with members of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce. The roundtable was closed to the public.

Cooper also addressed cost-of-living issues at a Durham rally Thursday, two days after a similar event in Fayetteville. Cooper told hundreds of cheering supporters he left the governor’s office with no intent, originally, to stay in politics. But he decided to run for Senate after watching Congress and Republican President Donald Trump push policies that, he said, are hurting working people.

“For too many families, there's too much month at the end of the money,” Cooper said Thursday in Durham, echoing a phrase he also used in his Fayetteville speech. “And now with the war in Iran, here comes higher gas prices.”

He added: “The chaos in Washington is making life worse for most people … and all the while, Congress sits up there, acting like they can’t do anything about it.”

While Cooper criticized the war in Iran for driving inflation higher, Whatley said he supports the attacks as necessary for national security.

“The fact is that we need to ensure that Iran is not going to have nuclear capacity, that they're not going to be able to deliver payloads via missiles into Europe or the United States, and that they're going to stop exporting terrorism,” said Whatley, who is endorsed by Trump. “That is an agenda that is widely popular here in North Carolina.” 

An Elon poll this month showed that 51% of North Carolinians oppose military involvement in Iran, and even more (62%) oppose the deployment of ground troops. Only 29% of respondents think the conflict will make the U.S. more safe. About 55% of respondents said they disapproved of Trump’s job performance during his second term, up from 51% in November.

Cooper, in his Fayetteville speech, said: “There are differences of opinions on this war, and I know that I'm deeply concerned about what are the reasons that we got in it, and what the exit strategies are to get out. But one thing I do know: When our troops are there, we need to do everything we can to support and protect them.”

Voters’ views on the economy

About 55% of North Carolina adults polled in March by Elon University said the economy has gotten worse during Trump’s second term. That’s up from 49% in September. And 47% gave the economy a ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade in March, up from 43% in September.

“The real conversation that we're having today,” Whatley said, “is: How do we create more jobs? How do we create better jobs? How do we make sure that people are going to take home more money? And how do we make sure that people are going to keep more money that they can use for their households in North Carolina?”

Cooper, the former two-term governor, leads Whatley by 14 points in a recent Catawba College poll. Republicans have pledged to spend big on ads supporting Whatley and attacking Cooper. 

Cooper on Tuesday promoted an initiative he launched in 2024 to reduce or forgive some medical debt for North Carolina families and he touted his efforts to expand Medicaid in the state. The former two-term governor also underscored his experience as attorney general — a background that Gov. Josh Stein also referenced Thursday, harkening back to his time prior to entering politics, as a lawyer working for Cooper in the AG’s office.

“I was in the room with him as he wrestled with big cases and tough issues,” Stein said. “I saw up close his integrity and his servant's heart as he ran out predatory payday lenders, charging working folks loan-shark interest rates, rooted out Medicaid fraud by broken health care providers and prosecuted violent criminals.”

Whatley is the former Republican National Committee chairman, a position he was elevated to after leading the state GOP. He said Thursday that affordability solutions can be found in trade, tax and regulatory policies after consultation with manufacturers and farmers across the state. 

Cooper, meanwhile, has said he wants to restrict mergers between companies that reduce competition and drive up consumer costs. He also indicated that he wants to make insurance companies more consumer-friendly, and work to reduce health care costs.

“We can take on insurance companies that are crushing working families with hidden fees and denied claims,” Cooper said Thursday. “We can rally together to save Medicaid and Medicare for families facing higher utility bills and so much more.”

Inflation has remained elevated in the past year due to trade wars over tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Gas prices have soared since the start of the U.S.-Iran conflict. A recent cease-fire has caused crude oil prices to drop, but gas prices haven’t fallen as quickly.  

Whatley praised Trump for deciding to release 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a way to help keep gas prices lower than they might have been had he not. “Otherwise the shocks would be very significant when it comes to Iran,” said Whatley, a former deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy and oil industry lobbyist.

Immigration, taxes 

Whatley has been a staunch supporter of Trump’s policies, including immigration enforcement. 

The U.S. Department of Labor said in October that Trump’s immigration policies have threatened to drive up consumer costs. Construction and agricultural industry advocates have said that legal immigrants have been hesitant to show up to work for fear of being mistaken for an illegal immigrant.

“We certainly want to make sure that people who are here legally are in a position to go work, and that is the case, right?” Whatley said Thursday. “And what we need to do, obviously, is make sure that the border stays secure.”

Whatley called out Cooper for opposing state legislation that would have required more cooperation between county sheriffs and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

He also criticized Cooper for vetoing tax cuts as governor and for voicing opposition to the wide-ranging legislation — called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and passed last year — that also contained tax cuts. 

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) joined Whatley in Raleigh Thursday and reiterated that to him and other Republicans, the main goal is lowering taxes.

“The easiest way for North Carolina to experience keeping more of the money that they make is to send Michae Whatley to the Senate,” Scott said. Frankly, the clear answer to affordability is having more senators like Michael Whatley in the United States Senate.”

Whatley said that’s a clear difference between him and Cooper: “He's never seen a dollar he didn't want to tax and spend,” Whatley said of Cooper. “I've never seen a tax that I didn't want to cut.”

During his eight years as governor, Cooper vetoed some tax cuts but signed others into law. A campaign spokesperson pointed to that history as well as his work, while attorney general, fighting efforts at the state Utilities Commission by Duke Energy to raise electrical rates. The Republican-led state legislature has since stripped some of that power from the state attorney general.

“Roy cut taxes for working families, held utility companies accountable and challenged rate hikes year after year to keep money in the pockets of hardworking families,” a spokesperson told WRAL.