The 2026 campaign season is kicking off in North Carolina, with President Donald Trump set to visit the state on Friday.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley announced on social media that Trump will join him for an evening rally in Rocky Mount. The event will take place in the state’s redrawn 1st Congressional District, which Republicans in the General Assembly reshaped to make more favorable for a GOP candidate and pick up another seat in the U.S. House.
Whatley will be running against former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, in what's likely to be one of the most closely watched and most expensive U.S. Senate races next year.