As we approach the November general election, North Carolina Republicans are facing headwinds from their own voter base. Republican activists and voters are discontent with the Republican establishment, claiming they’ve lost touch with the voters they’re meant to represent, and during this pivotal election year, the discontent can be seen up and down the ballot.
At the top of the ticket is the closely watched U.S. Senate race to decide who will replace retiring U.S. Senator Thom Tillis. Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee and oil lobbyist Michael Whatley is facing off against former governor Roy Cooper. Whatley won his primary, but his win was not exactly a decisive one, despite having the endorsement of President Donald Trump. He faced a crowded primary with six other republicans who described Whatley as a DC insider and an outsider to the great Tar Heel State. Regardless, Whatley came out on top and secured his spot as the Republican candidate for one of the most expensive congressional races in the country.
Whatley has the support of donors and super PACs across the country, most recently nailing a $71 million boost from the Senate Leadership Fund for his fight against Cooper. Though he has the support of wealthy donors, his support from voters is not as secure.
After the primary, Whatley came under additional fire for his relationship with convicted pedophile Harvey West Jr., whom Whatley appointed to lead the GOP committee of the 1st congressional district.
“West, 54, was a 28-year-old police officer in Washington, a small town in Beaufort County near the Outer Banks, in 1999 when he was arrested and charged with the statutory rape of three girls, two aged 14 and one aged 16,” according to an investigative report from Asheville Watchdog that brought this to the spotlight, though it was brought up as a concern by conservative activists prior.
West resigned from his position shortly after the story was released. Since then, reporters and voters have questioned Whatley about his relationship to West and his decisions to promote a known convicted sex offender to a position of power, but Whatley continues to dodge questions, voters, and responsibility.
At the state level, many Republican incumbents serving in the state House and Senate were ousted in their primaries. Though none were as consequential and evident of the party’s disconnect with voters as the loss of Senate leader Phil Berger. Berger, considered one of the most powerful Republicans in the state, had been in North Carolina politics for over two decades and secured the endorsement of the president for the primary. However, his opponent, Sam Page, a Rockingham County Sheriff, ran against Berger on the idea that the elite Republican had lost touch with the voters who put him into political power. Page pointed to Berger’s unpopular support of a casino in Rockingham County and a ban on shrimp trawling in the state. Another point of Pages was to take aim at the super PAC’s funding of Berger’s reelection, spending millions of dollars to ensure Berger remained in power.
One of the mega donors to Berger’s campaign was N.C. True Conservatives, who spent millions on Berger’s race. Complicating the group’s involvement in the race was their treasurer, Larry Shaheen, who at the same time was the state Republican Party Finance Chairman. Republicans at a local level see the connection as a conflict of interest. Jim Womack, chairman of the Lee County Republican Party, said Shaheen’s involvement in Berger’s race shows a pattern where the party “has shown itself not to be concerned about observing rules or ensuring fairness in the way the party leadership operates”. The Lee County Republican Party has since formally called for Shaheen’s removal through a unanimously approved resolution.
“This body affirms that Party leadership must remain neutral in contested Republican primaries, avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest, and acting in a manner that preserves the trust of Republican voters,” the the resolution read. Womack said he and other Republicans are “trying to hold the leadership accountable to fairness of the rules itself,” as well as encourage leadership to listen to the voter base to better represent the people who put them in power.
From congressional members to state leaders, Republican activists and voters are pushing for accountability and trying to be heard by their party, which is meant to represent them, even for those who won their primary races. State House Representative Sarah Stevens, who is running for Justice Anita Earl’s seat on the state Supreme Court, did not have a primary opponent and will proceed as the Republican candidate in November’s general election. However, the calls for accountability still stand after she was reported to have attended a fundraiser with Harvey West Jr.
In addition to being appointed as the head of the 1st Congressional District GOP and a member of the state Plan of Organization Committee by Whatley, West was a regular fundraiser for North Carolina Judicial races. For years, Republican judges and candidates such as Chief Justice Paul Newby, Associate Justices Trey Allen and Philip Berger Jr., Senate leader Phil Berger’s son, have attended judicial fundraisers hosted by West at his house. The state’s highest judicial powers repeatedly associating with a known and convicted sex offender has raised ethical concerns not just within the Republican party but with voters across party lines.
Though West stepped down from his position, some argue that it was too little too late. “Mr. West had shown no interest in leaving until, I think, it was starting to have implications in Mr. Whatley’s race for U.S. Senate, and almost overnight, Mr. West decides to resign,” Womack stated. “There is some reckoning that needs to occur within the party, and hopefully we will deal with that in the coming months.”
A conservative activist, Michele Woodhouse, points to West’s relationship with Whatley as a critical negative point for Whatley and his campaign. “There’s really nothing Michael Whatley could do that would get me to vote for him,” Woodhouse had brought up concerns about the fundraisers with West six years ago, but was shot down by Whatley.
What was once a concern from a conservative activist at a county level is now a glaring red alarm for Republicans on the state’s highest court and one of the most consequential congressional races in the nation. The way events unfolded shows Republicans’ lack of listening to the concerns of the voters and how that’s going to negatively affect the party at the ballot box and beyond.
