RNC Chair Michael Whatley expected to run for Senate in North Carolina
Whatley's expected run comes after Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., unexpectedly announced late last month that he would not seek re-election, catapulting the seat to one of the most notable races to watch in the 2026 midterm elections.
The RNC chair's decision was first reported by Politico.
NBC News previously reported that former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, also plans to launch a Senate campaign. Whatley and Cooper are expected to be the top contenders in the high-stakes race in the battleground state.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Jacinta Price reveals the little-known truth about the term 'First Nations' before being told off by Penny Wong
Indigenous senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price declared that 'First Nations' is not even an Australian term before being told off by Penny Wong in parliament. The firebrand Coalition politician was at the centre of a fiery row in the Senate after One Nation senators including Pauline Hanson turned their backs on the acknowledgement of country at the start of parliament last week. Senator Price objected to the ceremonies as a person of Indigenous heritage, claiming they did little to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians and were a form of 'political point-scoring'. It prompted Wong to urge the Coalition to 'respect' parliamentary traditions. 'I would hope that the Opposition would reflect on the words of their own leader in relation to Welcomes to Country,' the Labor Senate leader told the chamber. 'Decency and respect cost us nothing, but it goes a long way to building a sense of unity.' Before being told off by Wong, Senator Price also launched a blistering attack on the term 'First Nations'. 'First Nations isn't even Australian terminology, for crying out loud! It's been adopted from Canada, from America. It's just reinvention, which is actually belittling and watering down traditional culture and what it's really about. She also doubled down on her stance about Welcome to Country. 'Senator Hanson is correct to say that Welcome to Country is not traditional culture. It isn't. And what we do need to recognise is - and it is important for all of us, as leaders of this nation, to recognise - the reinvention of culture, which diminishes traditional culture. 'For those who still live close to traditional culture, within cultural confines, their day-to-day lives are dictated by it. 'They speak their language. They are often spoken about in very romanticised terms. And the use of acknowledgements really does absolutely nothing to improve their lives and has done nothing to improve their lives. 'To be quite honest, as a woman of Indigenous heritage but, first and foremost, as an Australian, I am absolutely done with the virtue signalling that takes place. I am of the belief that it is not necessary to have an acknowledgement, because we are all Australians. 'Every single one of us - including the Ngunnawal and the Ngambri - is Australian. We are here to serve all Australians equally in this country, not to praise or acknowledge one group above others. 'Truly, I don't think you really want to acknowledge my existence because of my indigeneity more than anybody else's. I am equal to you and to everybody else here and to everybody in this country. 'But we can ignore traditional culture in this chamber because there are elements of it in every single one of you across from here ignore, because it's detrimental to the most remote and marginalised communities. 'But if you speak up against it, if you mention it, you're painted as a racist or somebody who is a 'coconut', or somebody who is a traitor. 'Imagine if we treated every single racial group in this manner in this country. It's horrendous.' Senator Price didn't mince her words on what she thought of the politicisation of Indigenous Australians due to their racial heritage. 'I'm sick of death of it as a woman, mother, soon to be grandmother and as an Australian of proud heritage, whether it's my convict ancestors or it's my Warlpiri ancestors, I'm proud of it all and we should all be,' she said. Price was quickly inundated with widespread support. 'Thank you for speaking up for ALL Australians, Jacinta,' conservative political lobbyist group Advance Australia posted. A man added: 'Well said, we are all Australian irrespective of skin pigmentation, heritage, race or whether you believe in a deity or you don't. I hope this is replayed many, many times.' Another commented: 'Here's hoping that one day we can all be proud Australians and recognise past heritages and be thankful we live in an amazing country.' The speech also reignited calls for Price to lead the Coalition. 'Future Prime Minister of Australia,' one Aussie commented. The senator's fiery speech came after Opposition Senate Leader Michaelia Cash leapt to her defence and accused Wong of having 'sought to dismiss' Price's objection to the ceremonies. 'I will stand by and respect Senator Nampijinpa Price, who every day has lived and breathed reconciliation in this country - her father is white, her mother is black,' Cash said. 'Please don't ever come into this place again and pontificate to us like you've just done.'
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Pauline Hanson's urgent wake up call for Anthony Albanese: 'I will not stand by while Australia is driven into the ground'
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will introduce an urgency motion calling on the government to ditch its 'disastrous' net zero emissions target. Senators are expected to vote on the motion on Monday afternoon, adding pressure to calls from within the Coalition to scrap the policy. Ms Hanson wrote to Senate President Sue Lines on Monday morning, advising of her intention to introduce the motion 'as a matter of urgency.' 'I recently spoke to a small business owner who told me they're paying $10,000 a month just for electricity, on top of rent. It's no wonder 30,000 small businesses have shut their doors in just three years,' she said. 'Net zero is a scam. It's destroying our industries, gutting our manufacturing, crippling farming and food production, driving up the cost of living and pushing families into poverty, homelessness and despair,' she said. 'We are being led by fools. Shame on every politician who continues to push this madness. I will not stand by while Australia is driven into the ground.' While the motion is expected to be defeated, Ms Hanson said it was about forcing Coalition senators onto the record. 'We know where Labor and the Greens stand, but I want to hear where those in the Coalition stand on this,' she said. 'It's an urgency motion and anyone who abstains from this is a coward.' Net zero has emerged as a fracture point within the recently reconstituted Coalition, with Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce teasing a private members bill to do away with it. On Wednesday, The Australian reported Nationals leader Michael McCormack would support Barnaby Joyce's bid, undermining the Coalition's ongoing net zero review. It was a shot across the bow for the senior Coalition partner, signalling to its more moderate members the Nationals were not prepared to retire the issue. Ms Hanson said welcomed the move by the two Nationals MPs, adding her party had known 'all along' that net zero was a 'bad idea'. 'While some National Party members have come to the realisation that net zero has been a bad idea that has hurt productivity, cost of living, and the agriculture sector, we've been saying this all along,' she told the Daily Telegraph. 'Barnaby Joyce to his credit seems to have turned the leaf and recognised that these issues are having an impact and he's attempting to reverse the damage he and his Coalition did in government.' In place of the policy, she wrote the government should 'prioritise providing Australian families, farmers, businesses and industry with cheap and reliable energy.' She said it would help to 'protect jobs, ensure energy security, lower the cost of living and restore Australia's economic competitiveness'. Ms Hanson added Australia's ambitious target of carbon neutrality by 2050 was difficult to square with its relatively minor impact on overall global emissions. 'While China and India are exempt from cutting emissions until 2060 or 2070, and the USA refuses to play ball, we're punishing our own country for contributing just one per cent of global emissions,' she wrote. 'Between them, those three nations emit over 50 per cent but it's Australians who are made to suffer.' According to the CSIRO, Australia contributes just over one per cent of global emissions while China, India and the US comprise a combined 52 per cent.
The Independent
17 hours ago
- The Independent
Faith leaders hope bill will stop the loss of thousands of clergy from abroad serving US communities
Faith leaders across the U.S. are hoping a bipartisan bill, recently introduced in the U.S. Senate and House, might finally bring resolution to an immigration issue that has been hindering their service to their communities for more than two years. In March 2023, the Biden administration made a sudden change in how the government processes green cards in the category that includes both abused minors and religious workers. It created new backlogs that threaten the ability of thousands of pastors, nuns, imams, cantors and others to remain in the United States. The bill only tackles one small part of the issue, which sponsoring lawmakers hope will increase its chances of passing even as immigration remains one of the most polarizing issues in the country. Faith leaders say even a narrow fix will be enough to prevent damaging losses to congregations and to start planning for the future again. 'Unless there is a change to current practice, our community is slowly being strangled,' said the Rev. Aaron Wessman, vicar general and director of formation for the Glenmary Home Missioners, a small Catholic order ministering in rural America. 'I will weep with joy if this legislation passes," he said. "It means the world for our members who are living in the middle of uncertainty and for the people they'll be able to help.' Two thirds of Glenmary's priests and brothers under 50 years old are foreign-born — mostly from Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and Uganda — and they are affected by the current immigration snag, Wessman added. So are thousands of others who serve the variety of faiths present in the United States, from Islam to Hinduism to evangelical Christianity, providing both pastoral care and social services. No exact numbers exist, but it is estimated that there are thousands of religious workers who are now backlogged in the green card system and/or haven't been able to apply yet. How clergy get green cards — and why border crossings created backlogs Congregations bring to the United States religious workers under temporary visas called R-1, which allow them to work for up to five years. That used to be enough time for the congregations to petition for green cards under a special category called EB-4, which would allow the clergy to become permanent residents. Congress sets a quota of green cards available per year divided in categories, almost all based on types of employment or family relationships to U.S. citizens. In most categories, the demand exceeds the annual quota. Citizens of countries with especially high demand get put in separate, often longer 'lines' — for several years, the most backlogged category has been that of married Mexican children of U.S. citizens, where only applications filed more than 24 years ago are being processed. Also in a separate line were migrant children with 'Special Immigrant Juvenile Status' — neglected or abused minors — from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Hundreds of thousands sought humanitarian green cards or asylum after illegally crossing into the U.S. since the mid-2010s, though the Trump administration recently cracked down on the program. In March 2023, the State Department suddenly started adding the minors to the general green card queue with the clergy. That has created such a bottleneck that in April, only halfway through the current fiscal year, those green cards became unavailable. And when they will become available in the new fiscal year starting in October, they are likely to be stuck in the six-year backlog they faced earlier this year — meaning religious workers with a pending application won't get their green cards before their five-year visas expire and they must leave the country. In a report released Thursday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services blamed the EB-4 backlogs on the surge in applications by minors from Central America, and said the agency found widespread fraud in that program. A 'narrow fix' bill to allow foreign-born clergy to remain in the US The Senate and House bills would allow the Department of Homeland Security to extend religious workers' visas as long as their green card application is pending. They would also prevent small job changes — such as moving up from associate to senior pastor, or being assigned to another parish in the same diocese — from invalidating the pending application. 'Even as immigration issues are controversial and sometimes they run afoul of partisan politics, we think this fix is narrow enough, and the stakeholder group we have is significant enough, that we're hoping we can get this done,' said Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who introduced the Senate bill in April after hearing about the issue in his Richmond parish. Two of the last three priests there were foreign-born, he said, and earlier this month he was approached by a sister with the Comboni missionaries worried about her expiring visa. Kaine's two Republican cosponsors, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Jim Risch of Idaho, heard from voters worried about losing many faith leaders. 'It adds to their quality of life. And there's no reason they shouldn't have the ability to have this,' Risch said. 'Religious beliefs spread way beyond borders, and it is helpful to have these people who … want to come here and want to associate with Americans of the same faith. And so anything we can do to make that easier, is what we want to do.' Republican Rep. Mike Carey of Ohio, with Republican and Democratic colleagues, introduced an identical bill in the House. Both bills are still in the respective judiciary committees. 'To be frank, I don't know what objections people could have,' said Lance Conklin, adding that the bill doesn't require more green cards, just a time extension on existing visas. Conklin co-chairs the religious workers group of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and often represents evangelical pastors. The need for foreign-born religious workers is acute, faith leaders say Faith denominations from Buddhism to Judaism recruit foreign-born clergy who can minister to growing non-English-speaking congregations and often were educated at foreign institutions steeped in a religion's history. For many, it is also a necessity because of clergy shortages. The number of Catholic priests in the U.S. has declined by more than 40% since 1970, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a research center affiliated with Georgetown University. Some dioceses, however, are experiencing an uptick in vocations, and some expect more will be inspired by the recent election of Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope. Last summer, the Diocese of Paterson — serving 400,000 Catholics and 107 parishes in three New Jersey counties — and five of its affected priests sued the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The lawsuit argues that the 2023 change 'will cause severe and substantial disruption to the lives and religious freedoms' of the priests and the faithful they serve. The government's initial response was that the Department of State was correct in making that change, according to court documents. Expecting some action on the legislative front, the parties agreed to stay the lawsuit, said Raymond Lahoud, the diocese's attorney. But because the bills weren't included in the nearly-900-page sprawling legislation that Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this month, the lawsuit is moving forward, Lahoud said. 'We just can't wait anymore,' he said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
