Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley has booked zero future TV ads in North Carolina through Election Day, a silence that comes as Democrats flood the airwaves.

Daily Caller reporting shows the former Republican National Committee chair has no linear television reservations left in the state as of this week. His campaign’s last broadcast spot aired the week of Oct. 7.

AdImpact Politics data put the gap in plain numbers. Whatley’s campaign sits at zero dollars in future reservations. Democrat Roy Cooper’s team has locked in $7.4 million. Outside groups backing Cooper hold another $11.2 million. Groups behind Whatley hold $4.7 million.

Whatley pulled his television ads on Oct. 7 while the campaign rethought its approach. The campaign did not answer requests for comment on the empty schedule.

Republican PACs redirect cash to safer red-state fights

The Senate Leadership Fund, the top Republican Senate campaign arm, poured $30 million into North Carolina to back Whatley before pausing further spending there. Americans for Prosperity Action left the state off its $22 million list of future buys across key Republican contests. Old North Action stripped $6.5 million in reservations in September.

Those dollars are moving toward traditionally red states and other tight races. The Senate Leadership Fund dedicated $14 million to Kansas, where Republican Sen. Roger Marshall faces a Democratic challenge in a state that last sent a Democrat to the Senate in 1932. Republicans have already spent more than $200 million backing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who trailed his Democratic opponent by 2.6 points in recent RealClearPolling averages.

WinSenate, the super PAC tied to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s operation, cut roughly $1.1 million in North Carolina buys while Cooper held a clear lead, yet still shows $18.8 million in future reservations through Election Day. The pattern fits wider GOP frets over midterm majority risk as senators head home with unfinished business.

President Donald Trump endorsed Whatley early. Whatley had co-chaired the RNC with Lara Trump. The open seat itself opened after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said in June 2025 he would not run again following Trump’s threat to back a primary challenger over Tillis’s vote against the One Big, Beautiful Bill.

Cooper’s team claims a 50-50 state still up for grabs

Cooper’s campaign manager Jeff Allen told the Daily Caller News Foundation the race remains competitive despite the spending tilt.

"A Democrat has not won statewide federal office here in nearly two decades, and North Carolina is a 50-50 state."

Allen added a direct shot at the Republican nominee.

"We’re building a campaign to earn every vote and make sure North Carolinians know that Roy Cooper will fight for them, while Michael Whatley will continue to enrich himself at their expense."

AdImpact Politics itself posted the snapshot on X the same day the empty Whatley schedule became clear: the campaign’s last ad ran Oct. 7, future campaign reservations stood at zero for Whatley and $7.4 million for Cooper, and outside groups sat at $11.2 million blue versus $4.7 million red.

Separate controversies pile pressure on the Whatley effort

The airwave silence arrives alongside other campaign headaches. A registered sex offender pastor delivered the opening prayer at a Whatley stop in Craven County. Pastor Daimon L. King had been twice imprisoned on child-related convictions, including a 1998 statutory rape case involving a 15-year-old student and a 2010 guilty plea involving an underage female relative.

Whatley’s team said the local county GOP hosted the event and invited the guests. Campaign spokesman DJ Griffin stated Whatley did not know King and that the gathering “was NOT planned nor organized by the Whatley campaign nor did the campaign invite any of the guests.” Democrats have already spent more than $2.3 million on ads hitting Whatley for an earlier photo with another convicted sex offender. The episode risks further alienating voters already uneasy over crime messaging, as Breitbart detailed.

North Carolina Republican officials have also faced heat for letting a convicted sex offender serve as a leading fundraiser for the long-running Down East Judicial Picnic, an event that draws state justices and officeholders with tickets reaching $1,500. Washington Examiner coverage noted party leaders still refuse to concede the mistake.

Those local stumbles land while Senate Republicans already navigate internal fractures, including narrow votes on Iran war powers that exposed party splits.

Resource choices also reflect the broader scramble inside the conference. Leadership absences and legislative walls have left Republicans hustling on multiple fronts, much as seen when Trump’s SAVE America Act hit obstacles and forced fresh recalculations.

Conservatives continue looking for leverage in funding fights, a dynamic familiar from efforts to eye the SAVE America Act in spending showdowns.

Trump has kept pressure on outgoing members as well, at one point floating holds on nominations until certain senators depart, a tactic that surfaced around the Tillis timeline and similar exits.

Voters still hold the final say in a long-leaning state

North Carolina has not handed Democrats a statewide federal win in nearly two decades. Cooper’s side is treating the race as winnable and spending like it. Whatley’s side has gone quiet on broadcast television while national Republican money moves to protect other seats.

The empty reservation book does not erase the underlying map or the early Trump endorsement that put Whatley on the ballot. It does leave the nominee without a paid television presence in the closing stretch while his opponent keeps buying time.

Campaigns that stop talking on the airwaves still have to face voters who expect clear records on crime, borders, and basic competence. Dollars can shift. Accountability does not.