Whatley Campaign Announces $5 Million Raised In The First Quarter of 2026

Today, the Michael Whatley for Senate campaign announced that it raised $5 million in the first quarter of 2026, brining the total fundraising haul to $16 million for the first eight months of the campaign.  

“Today’s announcement demonstrates that Michael Whatley has the backing of North Carolina and the momentum to defeat Roy Cooper this November,” said Communications Director DJ Griffin. “The support for our campaign is a clear rebuke of Roy Cooper’s failed liberal agenda. North Carolinians are tired of his pro-criminal policies, his sanctuary city agenda, his failures on public safety, and his repeated attacks on working families—vetoing common-sense tax cuts and voting for tax hikes. North Carolinians deserve a senator who will be an ally to President Trump, fight to bring down prices, cut taxes, and keep our communities safe.” 

The Whatley campaign continues to fundraise at a record setting pace. For comparison, Senator Thom Tillis raised $1.9 million, and had $6.9 million at this point in the campaign cycle in 2020. In 2016, Senator Richard Burr raised $1.1 million at this point in the campaign cycle.  

This fundraising announcement comes after the Republican-aligned Senate Leadership Fund announced a $71 initial investment in North Carolina as part of their $342 million initial investment in the 2026 midterm election. 

Democrats across the country, including Roy Cooper, rely on ActBlue to provide payment processing to empower fundraising. But this week, the New York Times released a bombshell report that the lawyers for ActBlue warned the organization that they may have misled Congress about their protections to prevent laundering of foreign donations. As an observation, releasing this in the legacy media outlet of choice, may be part of a strategy to soften the impact of further revelations about ActBlue.