“Whatley has already profited from policy decisions he championed, eroding what little trust people already have in Washington politicians,” Cooper said. “I believe candidates must earn the trust of North Carolinians.”
For this year’s primary, UNITE HERE Local 23 has focused on door-knocking in the Charlotte and Roanoke Rapids areas in an effort to highlight what’s at stake in this election – workers’ rights, fair wages, affordable healthcare, and education. With over 43,500 doors knocked statewide ahead of election day, the state’s largest union for hospitality workers has been organizing to empower voters with vital information.
Auditor Boliek, who oversees the NC Board of Elections, recently raised concerns by campaigning for Phil Berger in a tight primary. Berger helped put Boliek in charge of election oversight with a controversial 2024 law many at the time called a partisan power grab.
Advocates argue that at a time when families are struggling to afford premiums, prescriptions, and medical bills, North Carolina needs leaders who will protect and expand access to care. Whatley’s record shows support for policies that would raise costs and weaken health care security for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians.
While families across North Carolina face rising health care costs, higher utility bills, and growing economic uncertainty, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley has spent much of his career inside Washington’s political establishment.
The Western Carolina University students braved a 35-minute, 1.5-mile walk along a busy four-lane rural highway with no sidewalks to bring attention to the distance between students and the polls created by the Republican-controlled state board of elections.
“In the last two years alone in North Carolina, we have lost 19,262 teachers to other jobs; we have 7,000 teaching vacancies in the profession right now,” said Bryan Proffitt with NCAE, during the press conference.
Advocates say The Cost We Carry Storybook is meant to force lawmakers to confront the human cost of their inaction. As Johnson put it, “This report is about making sure our state lawmakers hear directly from hard-working North Carolinians — and start serving people, not greedy corporations.”
“When people in crisis do not get help in time, the consequences can be tragic,” Gov. Stein stated during the order’s announcement. The order points to a number of high-profile cases where lives were lost at the hands of individuals with complicated mental health histories.
Regardless of Whatley’s acceptance or denial of the “recovery czar” label, Trump handed him power over the recovery efforts, and in August, Smoky Mountain News reported that residents of Western North Carolina said Whatley had “rarely, if ever” visited the area.