Latest news with #RoyCooper
USA Today
16 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump hasn't done anything for GOP to campaign on. Here come the anti-trans ads.
With Republicans so focused on transphobia, it's a mistake for Democrats to stay quiet or turn their backs on trans people entirely, as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Pete Buttigieg have done. Once again, Republicans are attacking trans people to make up for the fact that they haven't actually accomplished anything during the first few months of President Donald Trump's second term. After former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced that he would be running for U.S. Senate, the conservative Senate Leadership Fund released an ad attacking his previous support of trans people, including his vetoes on legislation that served to keep transgender women and girls out of women's sports. 'Roy Cooper sides with they/them,' the ad reads. Besides the fact that there is absolutely nothing wrong with supporting trans people, the ad is clearly a ploy to distract from the very real damage Republicans are doing to this country. They have no wins to campaign off. They have cut Medicaid, increased the cost of living and failed to quell foreign tensions. Life has not improved under Republican leadership, and the party knows this. It's why the GOP would rather attack vulnerable people like those in the trans community instead of running on positive things the party has done. Trump presidency is a joke, so Republicans resort to scare tactics Cooper isn't the only Democratic candidate being attacked for treating trans people as human beings. In an ad for Republican Rep. Buddy Carter's senatorial campaign in Georgia, a man with stubble in a wig and a dress complains about Carter's anti-trans policies before driving off in a car with a bumper sticker for Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia. Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger has been targeted by Republican opponent Winsome Earle-Sears for supporting trans women in sports. If it sounds familiar, that's because it is. In 2024, millions of dollars were spent on ads going after Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' record on trans rights, announcing that she was for 'they/them' as well. The advertisement is just as corny now as it was then. But it worked because Republicans seemed to be deathly afraid of pronouns. Opinion: What if I told you there's a Democrat who can still get the Republican vote? These ads, however, have come with very real repercussions. Trans people have been erased from the federal government; they have had their legacy removed from the Stonewall National Monument and their right to accurate markers on their passports taken away. They have been attacked for playing sports according to their gender and have had their health care threatened. In fact, I'd argue that one of the only things Trump has accomplished during his presidency is the vilification of trans people, which is leading to declining support for the community among the U.S. population. Again, it's not as if he's made groceries or health care more affordable. Casting trans people as the enemy remains the only thing Republicans can point to for any proof of success, despite being in charge of the entire federal government. While the Trump administration has successfully targeted trans people, they're failing at everything else. Nearly 10 million Americans are about to lose health insurance over the next decade thanks to the appropriations bill. More hospitals in rural areas are expected to close. Tariffs are expected to cost families $2,400 this year, according to the Yale Budget Lab. Unemployment is on the rise. Basically, nothing is going as planned, and MAGA politicians realize that targeting trans people is an easy way to rile up their base. Opinion: I'm raising a transgender son. My child is not a threat. Democrats like Newsom, Buttigieg have wrong approach on trans issues There are always going to be trans people in the South, from metropolitan areas to rural communities. The same goes for the rest of the country. These ads only serve to make the lives of these trans people more difficult. Perhaps that's the point: Republicans would rather see an entire marginalized group suffer than simply leave them alone. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. It's a mistake for Democrats to stay quiet on trans issues, or turn their backs on trans people, as presidential hopefuls California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Pete Buttigieg have done. Even though the battle for trans rights is not widely understood, the morally right thing to do would be to support trans people in their efforts to live as their authentic selves. At the very least, Democrats should point out that Republicans are using this as a distraction from the fact that they are actively hurting their constituents by cutting Medicaid and shutting down government services. Trans people are not the ones taking your benefits away or shutting down rural hospitals. They aren't responsible for the tariffs that are raising the cost of goods. That's all Republican lawmakers. Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter: @sara__pequeno You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
CNN
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Republicans reprise anti-transgender ‘Kamala is for they/them' ads for the midterms
Source: CNN Shortly after former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced his plans to run for Senate, a group backing Republicans released an ad with an echo of last year's presidential campaign. 'Roy Cooper sides with they/them,' read the language on screen in the ad, produced by the Senate Leadership Fund. Republicans are reprising a key attack line from last year's presidential race for elections this year and next, betting that anti-trans messaging will help them counter Democrats running on GOP-led cuts to Medicaid and other parts of Trump's policy megabill. Trump allies spent tens of millions of dollars airing an ad highlighting 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' one-time commitment that detained immigrants would have access to treatment associated with gender transition as was required by federal law, including surgical care. The ad's tagline mocked the pronouns used by non-binary individuals, saying 'Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.' Widely cited by strategists in both parties as having shaped the campaign, that ad is now being mimicked in North Carolina and another competitive Senate contest in Georgia. Trans and gender identity issues have also come up in this year's race for Virginia governor. One ad attacking Sen. Jon Ossoff aired during a basketball game and referenced the broadcast. 'Man-to-man defense isn't woke enough for Ossoff – he's playing for they/them. Call and tell Sen. Ossoff, stop dunking on defenseless girls,' said the ad, from an affiliate of SLF and backed by more than $350,000. Chris LaCivita, Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager and an architect of the 'Kamala is for they/them' ads, said it made sense for Republicans to bring back messaging they see as driving a wedge between Democrats and key voting blocs. 'The purpose of the ads in the 2024 campaign was built around the need to increase our vote share with men, Hispanics, and moms. The ads in question - there were three - achieved the results that we were looking for,' said LaCivita in an email. 'That's what is playing out right now across the country, in Senate, House and gubernatorial races.' Democrats argue that Republicans are using the issue as a distraction. 'Republicans have given in to the most extreme fringes of their party by abandoning pocketbook issues in favor of an anti-freedom agenda that is obsessed with letting politicians make decisions that should be left to parents and doctors,' said Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democrats' House campaign arm, in a statement. 'Rather than getting involved in personal matters, House Republicans should perhaps spend their time expanding the middle class, lowering costs, and protecting freedoms.' The Trump administration has moved across government to target trans rights in particular, from removing trans people from the military to ordering investigations of hospitals that provide particular medical services for trans children. The White House often promotes its actions against trans-friendly policies, posting Wednesday about a move to restrict visas for trans female athletes competing in women's sports. Trans people make up less than 0.6% of the United States population ages 13 and older, according to the Williams Institute, a public policy research center focused on sexual orientation and gender identity at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. North Carolina and Georgia host US Senate elections that are expected to rank among the most competitive contests of next year's midterms. In both races, Republicans are launching transgender-focused attacks against Democrats, centered on policies governing youth sports participation and bathroom access. The North Carolina GOP issued a statement slamming Cooper, saying that he 'championed radical transgender ideology' and 'vetoed bills to keep men out of women's sports.' In another statement, the Senate Leadership Fund criticized Cooper's 'vetoes that allowed boys in girls' sports.' Meanwhile, one of Ossoff's challengers, Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter, is running an ad featuring a person wearing a dress and a wig complaining that Carter 'helped Trump' in 'banning people like me from competing in women's sports.' Ossoff campaign spokesperson Ellie Dougherty said that 'National Republicans are scrambling to hide from Trump's budget law after facing intense backlash in Georgia for gutting Medicaid and defunding hospitals.' Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee for governor in Virginia, has also been regularly targeting Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger with attacks focused on transgender policies, as Republicans look for an opening in the challenging off-year race. Earle-Sears wrote on social media last week that Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, 'think your daughter should compete and share a locker room with biological men.' Sam Newton, communications director for the Democratic Governors Association, argued that party leaders at the state level had successfully navigated similar attacks from Republicans in recent elections. 'In battleground and red-state races for governor in 2022, 2023 and 2024, voters consistently rejected Republicans who made clear they only cared about stoking division with culture wars in favor of Democratic candidates who won by staying laser-focused on addressing the biggest issues impacting working families every single day. This cycle will be no different,' Newton said. The 'they/them' ads come as some Democrats who could run for president in 2028 have debated in public where they should stand on the participation of trans female athletes in girls' sports. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2028, told conservative influencer Charlie Kirk on his podcast in March that transgender athletes competing in women's sports was 'deeply unfair.' And Pete Buttigieg, another potential 2028 contender, also voiced sympathy for conservative complaints about transgender sports policies in an interview on NPR this week. 'I think most reasonable people would recognize that there are serious fairness issues if you just treat this as not mattering when a trans athlete wants to compete in women's sports,' Buttigieg said. Others have argued for resolve and attempted to build up infrastructure to support pro-transgender policies. The Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ rights organization, is planning a series of town halls in red-state cities over the summer aimed at supporting LGBTQ individuals and policies. 'Stories move people. Shared humanity is powerful. When the American people get to know who we are, and not who Donald Trump says we are, everything changes: hearts and minds first, policy and politics next,' HRC spokesperson Brandon Wolf said about the tour. Wolf urged Democrats to 'be bold, stand up to the bullies, and to say unequivocally: we refuse to compromise on freedom.' Another effort is underway in the Christopher Street Project, a PAC formed earlier this month to endorse and raise funds for candidates that advocate for pro-transgender policies. The group released a list of 16 initial endorsees including Rep. Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, and prominent Democrats such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pramila Jayapal, Katherine Clark, and Jamie Raskin. During an interview last month at the Center for American Progress, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, also advised his party to avoid looking 'weak' and backing down to Republicans. 'I think it's a mistake to focus just on economics and allow trans children to get bullied or something. I think they have to go – or we look weak, if we don't do it,' Walz said. One minor Democratic candidate for California governor, meanwhile, tried to turn the tables on Trump and Republicans with their own line. The ad from Stephen Cloobeck's campaign shows Trump's photo next to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. 'Trump is for they/them,' the narrator says, with the names of Epstein and Maxwell highlighted. 'Stephen Cloobeck is for you.' See Full Web Article
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Republicans reprise anti-transgender ‘Kamala is for they/them' ads for the midterms
LGBTQ issues Donald Trump Senate election US electionsFacebookTweetLink Follow Shortly after former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced his plans to run for Senate, a group backing Republicans released an ad with an echo of last year's presidential campaign. 'Roy Cooper sides with they/them,' read the language on screen in the ad, produced by the Senate Leadership Fund. Republicans are reprising a key attack line from last year's presidential race for elections this year and next, betting that anti-trans messaging will help them counter Democrats running on GOP-led cuts to Medicaid and other parts of Trump's policy megabill. Trump allies spent tens of millions of dollars airing an ad highlighting 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' one-time commitment that detained immigrants would have access to treatment associated with gender transition as was required by federal law, including surgical care. The ad's tagline mocked the pronouns used by non-binary individuals, saying 'Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.' Widely cited by strategists in both parties as having shaped the campaign, that ad is now being mimicked in North Carolina and another competitive Senate contest in Georgia. Trans and gender identity issues have also come up in this year's race for Virginia governor. One ad attacking Sen. Jon Ossoff aired during a basketball game and referenced the broadcast. 'Man-to-man defense isn't woke enough for Ossoff – he's playing for they/them. Call and tell Sen. Ossoff, stop dunking on defenseless girls,' said the ad, from an affiliate of SLF and backed by more than $350,000. Chris LaCivita, Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager and an architect of the 'Kamala is for they/them' ads, said it made sense for Republicans to bring back messaging they see as driving a wedge between Democrats and key voting blocs. 'The purpose of the ads in the 2024 campaign was built around the need to increase our vote share with men, Hispanics, and moms. The ads in question - there were three - achieved the results that we were looking for,' said LaCivita in an email. 'That's what is playing out right now across the country, in Senate, House and gubernatorial races.' Democrats argue that Republicans are using the issue as a distraction. 'Republicans have given in to the most extreme fringes of their party by abandoning pocketbook issues in favor of an anti-freedom agenda that is obsessed with letting politicians make decisions that should be left to parents and doctors,' said Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democrats' House campaign arm, in a statement. 'Rather than getting involved in personal matters, House Republicans should perhaps spend their time expanding the middle class, lowering costs, and protecting freedoms.' The Trump administration has moved across government to target trans rights in particular, from removing trans people from the military to ordering investigations of hospitals that provide particular medical services for trans children. The White House often promotes its actions against trans-friendly policies, posting Wednesday about a move to restrict visas for trans female athletes competing in women's sports. Trans people make up less than 0.6% of the United States population ages 13 and older, according to the Williams Institute, a public policy research center focused on sexual orientation and gender identity at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. North Carolina and Georgia host US Senate elections that are expected to rank among the most competitive contests of next year's midterms. In both races, Republicans are launching transgender-focused attacks against Democrats, centered on policies governing youth sports participation and bathroom access. The North Carolina GOP issued a statement slamming Cooper, saying that he 'championed radical transgender ideology' and 'vetoed bills to keep men out of women's sports.' In another statement, the Senate Leadership Fund criticized Cooper's 'vetoes that allowed boys in girls' sports.' Meanwhile, one of Ossoff's challengers, Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter, is running an ad featuring a person wearing a dress and a wig complaining that Carter 'helped Trump' in 'banning people like me from competing in women's sports.' Ossoff campaign spokesperson Ellie Dougherty said that 'National Republicans are scrambling to hide from Trump's budget law after facing intense backlash in Georgia for gutting Medicaid and defunding hospitals.' Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee for governor in Virginia, has also been regularly targeting Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger with attacks focused on transgender policies, as Republicans look for an opening in the challenging off-year race. Earle-Sears wrote on social media last week that Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, 'think your daughter should compete and share a locker room with biological men.' Sam Newton, communications director for the Democratic Governors Association, argued that party leaders at the state level had successfully navigated similar attacks from Republicans in recent elections. 'In battleground and red-state races for governor in 2022, 2023 and 2024, voters consistently rejected Republicans who made clear they only cared about stoking division with culture wars in favor of Democratic candidates who won by staying laser-focused on addressing the biggest issues impacting working families every single day. This cycle will be no different,' Newton said. The 'they/them' ads come as some Democrats who could run for president in 2028 have debated in public where they should stand on the participation of trans female athletes in girls' sports. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2028, told conservative influencer Charlie Kirk on his podcast in March that transgender athletes competing in women's sports was 'deeply unfair.' And Pete Buttigieg, another potential 2028 contender, also voiced sympathy for conservative complaints about transgender sports policies in an interview on NPR this week. 'I think most reasonable people would recognize that there are serious fairness issues if you just treat this as not mattering when a trans athlete wants to compete in women's sports,' Buttigieg said. Others have argued for resolve and attempted to build up infrastructure to support pro-transgender policies. The Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ rights organization, is planning a series of town halls in red-state cities over the summer aimed at supporting LGBTQ individuals and policies. 'Stories move people. Shared humanity is powerful. When the American people get to know who we are, and not who Donald Trump says we are, everything changes: hearts and minds first, policy and politics next,' HRC spokesperson Brandon Wolf said about the tour. Wolf urged Democrats to 'be bold, stand up to the bullies, and to say unequivocally: we refuse to compromise on freedom.' Another effort is underway in the Christopher Street Project, a PAC formed earlier this month to endorse and raise funds for candidates that advocate for pro-transgender policies. The group released a list of 16 initial endorsees including Rep. Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, and prominent Democrats such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pramila Jayapal, Katherine Clark, and Jamie Raskin. During an interview last month at the Center for American Progress, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, also advised his party to avoid looking 'weak' and backing down to Republicans. 'I think it's a mistake to focus just on economics and allow trans children to get bullied or something. I think they have to go – or we look weak, if we don't do it,' Walz said. One minor Democratic candidate for California governor, meanwhile, tried to turn the tables on Trump and Republicans with their own line. The ad from Stephen Cloobeck's campaign shows Trump's photo next to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. 'Trump is for they/them,' the narrator says, with the names of Epstein and Maxwell highlighted. 'Stephen Cloobeck is for you.'
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Republicans reprise anti-transgender ‘Kamala is for they/them' ads for the midterms
LGBTQ issues Donald Trump Senate election US electionsFacebookTweetLink Follow Shortly after former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced his plans to run for Senate, a group backing Republicans released an ad with an echo of last year's presidential campaign. 'Roy Cooper sides with they/them,' read the language on screen in the ad, produced by the Senate Leadership Fund. Republicans are reprising a key attack line from last year's presidential race for elections this year and next, betting that anti-trans messaging will help them counter Democrats running on GOP-led cuts to Medicaid and other parts of Trump's policy megabill. Trump allies spent tens of millions of dollars airing an ad highlighting 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' one-time commitment that detained immigrants would have access to treatment associated with gender transition as was required by federal law, including surgical care. The ad's tagline mocked the pronouns used by non-binary individuals, saying 'Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.' Widely cited by strategists in both parties as having shaped the campaign, that ad is now being mimicked in North Carolina and another competitive Senate contest in Georgia. Trans and gender identity issues have also come up in this year's race for Virginia governor. One ad attacking Sen. Jon Ossoff aired during a basketball game and referenced the broadcast. 'Man-to-man defense isn't woke enough for Ossoff – he's playing for they/them. Call and tell Sen. Ossoff, stop dunking on defenseless girls,' said the ad, from an affiliate of SLF and backed by more than $350,000. Chris LaCivita, Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager and an architect of the 'Kamala is for they/them' ads, said it made sense for Republicans to bring back messaging they see as driving a wedge between Democrats and key voting blocs. 'The purpose of the ads in the 2024 campaign was built around the need to increase our vote share with men, Hispanics, and moms. The ads in question - there were three - achieved the results that we were looking for,' said LaCivita in an email. 'That's what is playing out right now across the country, in Senate, House and gubernatorial races.' Democrats argue that Republicans are using the issue as a distraction. 'Republicans have given in to the most extreme fringes of their party by abandoning pocketbook issues in favor of an anti-freedom agenda that is obsessed with letting politicians make decisions that should be left to parents and doctors,' said Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democrats' House campaign arm, in a statement. 'Rather than getting involved in personal matters, House Republicans should perhaps spend their time expanding the middle class, lowering costs, and protecting freedoms.' The Trump administration has moved across government to target trans rights in particular, from removing trans people from the military to ordering investigations of hospitals that provide particular medical services for trans children. The White House often promotes its actions against trans-friendly policies, posting Wednesday about a move to restrict visas for trans female athletes competing in women's sports. Trans people make up less than 0.6% of the United States population ages 13 and older, according to the Williams Institute, a public policy research center focused on sexual orientation and gender identity at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. North Carolina and Georgia host US Senate elections that are expected to rank among the most competitive contests of next year's midterms. In both races, Republicans are launching transgender-focused attacks against Democrats, centered on policies governing youth sports participation and bathroom access. The North Carolina GOP issued a statement slamming Cooper, saying that he 'championed radical transgender ideology' and 'vetoed bills to keep men out of women's sports.' In another statement, the Senate Leadership Fund criticized Cooper's 'vetoes that allowed boys in girls' sports.' Meanwhile, one of Ossoff's challengers, Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter, is running an ad featuring a person wearing a dress and a wig complaining that Carter 'helped Trump' in 'banning people like me from competing in women's sports.' Ossoff campaign spokesperson Ellie Dougherty said that 'National Republicans are scrambling to hide from Trump's budget law after facing intense backlash in Georgia for gutting Medicaid and defunding hospitals.' Winsome Earle-Sears, the GOP nominee for governor in Virginia, has also been regularly targeting Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger with attacks focused on transgender policies, as Republicans look for an opening in the challenging off-year race. Earle-Sears wrote on social media last week that Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, 'think your daughter should compete and share a locker room with biological men.' Sam Newton, communications director for the Democratic Governors Association, argued that party leaders at the state level had successfully navigated similar attacks from Republicans in recent elections. 'In battleground and red-state races for governor in 2022, 2023 and 2024, voters consistently rejected Republicans who made clear they only cared about stoking division with culture wars in favor of Democratic candidates who won by staying laser-focused on addressing the biggest issues impacting working families every single day. This cycle will be no different,' Newton said. The 'they/them' ads come as some Democrats who could run for president in 2028 have debated in public where they should stand on the participation of trans female athletes in girls' sports. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2028, told conservative influencer Charlie Kirk on his podcast in March that transgender athletes competing in women's sports was 'deeply unfair.' And Pete Buttigieg, another potential 2028 contender, also voiced sympathy for conservative complaints about transgender sports policies in an interview on NPR this week. 'I think most reasonable people would recognize that there are serious fairness issues if you just treat this as not mattering when a trans athlete wants to compete in women's sports,' Buttigieg said. Others have argued for resolve and attempted to build up infrastructure to support pro-transgender policies. The Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ rights organization, is planning a series of town halls in red-state cities over the summer aimed at supporting LGBTQ individuals and policies. 'Stories move people. Shared humanity is powerful. When the American people get to know who we are, and not who Donald Trump says we are, everything changes: hearts and minds first, policy and politics next,' HRC spokesperson Brandon Wolf said about the tour. Wolf urged Democrats to 'be bold, stand up to the bullies, and to say unequivocally: we refuse to compromise on freedom.' Another effort is underway in the Christopher Street Project, a PAC formed earlier this month to endorse and raise funds for candidates that advocate for pro-transgender policies. The group released a list of 16 initial endorsees including Rep. Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, and prominent Democrats such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pramila Jayapal, Katherine Clark, and Jamie Raskin. During an interview last month at the Center for American Progress, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice-presidential nominee, also advised his party to avoid looking 'weak' and backing down to Republicans. 'I think it's a mistake to focus just on economics and allow trans children to get bullied or something. I think they have to go – or we look weak, if we don't do it,' Walz said. One minor Democratic candidate for California governor, meanwhile, tried to turn the tables on Trump and Republicans with their own line. The ad from Stephen Cloobeck's campaign shows Trump's photo next to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. 'Trump is for they/them,' the narrator says, with the names of Epstein and Maxwell highlighted. 'Stephen Cloobeck is for you.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Andy Nilsson ends North Carolina Senate bid after Trump backs Michael Whatley
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in North Carolina next year said Friday that he's ending his bid now that Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley has entered the race with President Donald Trump's support. Several months ago, Andy Nilsson revealed his candidacy for the Senate seat currently held by GOP incumbent Thom Tillis. Tillis announced in late June, after clashing with Trump, that he wouldn't seek a third term. Last week, Whatley, a North Carolina native and resident, entered the race for the GOP nomination, already holding what Trump wrote on social media as his "Complete and Total Endorsement.' Now Nilsson, a former furniture company owner who once ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor, says in a news release that he had decided to suspend his campaign. Nilsson said Trump's endorsement of Whatley 'played a central role in my decision. I respect the President's desire to go in a different direction, even if I have questions about his choice.' Whatley's campaign launch July 31 appeared to set the stage for a possible general election showdown between him and former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who announced his candidacy three days earlier. The seat in the highly competitive state could decide whether Democrats regain a majority in the chamber. Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the November 2026 elections. Similar to Nilsson's departure, Cooper's candidacy prompted ex-U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel to suspend his monthslong campaign for the Democratic nomination. Wiley endorsed Cooper. Nilsson, who is a Winston-Salem high school teacher and assistant football coach, didn't mention an endorsement in Friday's statement but said he would work hard to keep the seat "in the hands of a conservative.' Nilsson on Friday highlighted his effort to unseat Tillis, who he said 'had lost touch with his base" and that "mine was the first campaign to call him out.' Winnowing the field won't necessarily prevent Cooper or Whatley from avoiding March primary elections for their respective nominations. Republican Don Brown, a writer and former Navy officer, remains a candidate for the GOP nomination. And official candidate filing occurs in December.
