Whatley's campaign told the Washington Post that 'prices were down considerably in 2025.' The government's own index says the opposite: overall prices rose 2.7% across 2025 and groceries rose 2.4%. Prices have gone up another 3% since.
Ronald Hayes agreed to talk about his murdered son because he was told the ad was about gun violence. It has been viewed more than 25 million times, as part of a $17 million campaign for Michael Whatley — and the claim at its center is not true.
A NOTUS column collected what Republican candidates have been saying about the cost of living. Twelve of them have report cards on this site. Their answers range from 'earn more' to 'the Democrats invented this term affordability.'
The North Carolinian calls itself 'Independent Journalism for North Carolina.' Popular Information found it is fully controlled by the Senate Leadership Fund — and its unbylined August 21 article never mentions that the killing it describes happened in South Carolina.
Whatley's campaign committees paid $104,749.73 to fly a $1.9 million Cessna linked to a construction executive Trump pardoned for defrauding the government, plus $31,247.46 to a second jet company — while his ads showed him driving a GMC truck in a flannel shirt.
Spectrum News reviewed 12 years of disclosures: Whatley's firm took $3.5 million, including $1.2 million from energy clients. His campaign bio skips the entire career.
A district chair wore a #MeToo shirt to a 2021 meeting to raise it. Whatley gaveled the meeting closed — and reappointed Harvey West to the committee that writes the party's rules.
Whatley and his wife hold between $163,000 and $445,000 in Duke Energy stock, per a November 2025 disclosure. Duke has spent the last year seeking a residential rate increase in North Carolina.
Asked at a Brunswick County event whether we can get rid of FEMA, Whatley answered: 'I've suggested the president do that.' At the time he was the White House's recovery czar for western North Carolina.
Chemours' PAC gave Michael Whatley $5,000 — the first time it has ever spent in a North Carolina Senate race. WUNC asked him three questions about PFAS. His campaign didn't answer an email or a text.
North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley has now called police on reporters at two public campaign events and hides on friendly podcasts — anything to avoid answering questions.
North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley calls the Jan. 6 prosecutions 'ridiculous persecution' and backs paying rioters — including pardon recipients later convicted of child sex crimes.