Don Brown vs Michael Whatley | Eastern NC Now
Get to know the candidates and choose a true conservative for NC!
Diogenes Lamp
By: Ray Leary
Don Brown vs Michael Whatley
North Carolina US Senate Primary Race - March 2026
Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a great opportunity before us in the US Senate race in NC in 2026. Do we choose an elite insider candidate chosen by the NCGOP elite insiders to represent NC in the US Senate or do we select a true conservative that has seen the dark underbelly of Washington, DC politics for what it is, a corrupt mish-mash of do nothings that tell you over and over that they are representing the grassroots in the US at every turn, but in reality do everything but what they espouse at campaign stops?
Thom Tillis hand picked Michael Whatley to replace him in the US senate after he leaves office. Tillis has embarrassed NC at every turn. He has been censured by the NCGOP. He has failed to support President Donald Trump in his efforts to curb illegal immigration. Michael Whatley will be no better.
President Trump has been ill-advised in his support and endorsement of Whatley. This is not the first time he has been led astray by the deep state operatives.
I, for one, am tired of the same old promises from the elites. I want to see action. Michael Whatley does not represent action. He is a tired old lobbyist trying to represent himself as a leader in NC and US political leadership. His record is anything but a leader. He is a pretender that hopes to fool NC voters again. Do not fall for his folksy demeaner. He is a wolf in sheep clothing.
I received a letter from the Whatley campaign on October 25, 2025. He claims his opponent is a radical woke leftist without naming to whom he is referring. I have to assume this is in reference to Roy Cooper. I have responded to this missive reminding him his immediate opponent is Don Brown, a respected retired JAG officer, constitutional attorney, and renowned author of many contemporary books. My response is below.
October 27, 2025
Sir,
I received a letter today from your campaign requesting a donation.
The letter contains this statement: My opponent may pretend to be different than radical extremists like AOC and Zohran Mamdani who are running today’s Democrat Party, but he is all in on their toxic woke agenda.
Don Brown is your immediate opponent. Are you talking about Don Brown?
You go on to say you are not a career politician and do not have Hollywood and special interest Super PACS behind me. Are you suggesting that Don Brown has support from these groups? I get emails from you with the header stating, ‘Your Future US Senator’. Not so fast. You have not been nominated, coronated or elected to anything.
This is the same deception you used to get yourself elected to the Chair of the NCGOP.
It is not going to work this time. Grassroot conservatives are on to you.
You were the chairman of the NCGOP and the National Republican Party. You should firmly denounce the interference of both organizations for supporting you in the primary election. The voters are encouraged to select the general election candidate, not the GOP elites. You should also refuse any funds from these organizations until after the primary. President Trump has received bad advice resulting in his support for your campaign. He is far from 100% with his endorsements. I see you on the negative side as well.
I have stopped donating to any GOP committees until they pull their support from you before the primary election in March 2026.
I will never support you in the US senate race. I am not alone in harboring this sentiment.
Ray Leary
Please visit Don Brown for US Senate website. (https://brownfornc.com/) If you have an opportunity to meet him or hear him outline his conservative constitutional approach to government, please take an hour or so to get to know him. I guarantee you will find him refreshing. He is from eastern North Carolina and is a constitutional attorney with an office in Charlotte, NC.
Check out his books. I recommend Kangaroo Court. He explains how lawfare has been used for the last ten years to undermine the constitutional rights of conservatives, both candidates and office holders. He examines over 30 cases that have dominated the national news for over ten years.
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Van Zant said:
( November 2nd, 2025 @ 7:43 am )
Whatley is an insider elitist lobbyist that ran roughshod over the Republican PoO and Republican activists in his time as NCGOP chair. He got a free ride during those years. He does not deserve the free ride into the senate election that he thinks he is entitled to. Don Brown is the ONLY senate candidate that will get my vote.
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The fact that Michael Whatley has no philosophical compass or fixed set of principles is shown by the fact that he and his lobbying / public relations firm worked for the Green New Deal grifters of Big Solar and pushed their own scheme to promote the leftwing ESG litmus test for companies. That is NOT the background we want in a US senator. If you like shifty Mitch McConnel or John McCain, you will love Michael Whatley. He is Lisa Murkowski or Susan Collins without the skirt (at least that we know of)>
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Whatley is Tillis 2.0, and North Carolina does NOT need that! All the establishment money in the world cannot buy him the respect of conservative voters. If he is at the top of the ticket, it will be poison for Republicans farther down the ballot. NEVER WHATLEY
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Reading the comment from Michelle Woodhouse, former Republican 11th Congressional District (mountain area) Republican Party chairman on how Michael Whatley bungled the position Trump appointed him to as hurricane relief czar for western NC after Hurricane Helene makes me concerned about whether Whatley is electable in November. The comment is posted below the following Daily Haymaker article: dailyhaymaker.com
To win statewide, we have to get a good showing in those western areas devastated by Helene. Those voters came out for us in 2024. Will they in 2026 with Whatley at the head of the ticket? That is a real question after he has been MIA on the Hurricane Helene relief he was supposed to head. Don Brown is our best chance to win against Cooper. |
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When it comes to border security, Don Brown is rock solid. Michael Whatley is an opportunist who might say the right things on occaision, but has never really engaged on this issue, and has strong connections to people who are amnesty whores, especially from his lobbyist days, but also his strong ties to amnesty whore Thom Tillis.
This primary is a no brainer. Don Brown is the only game in town for those who care about border security. He is probably the only one of the pair that could actually beat Roy Cooper, an even worse amnesty whore, in November. |
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Conservative Voter: I agree. We do have strong candidates running for the City Council. Have you looked at your new tax bill, electric bill, potholes, drainage problems? But we have a great outhouse on the waterfront and a wonderful Main St. with no parking. No real long-range plan that I have seen. Then look at from Third Street North. We do have candidates with business sense running this time. Let's hope we can get out the vote.
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We have some good candidates running for city council to replace the seat warmers, yes men, and grifters of the Sadler machine. They are running hard and we need to make a change there. But our country is in dire straights, too, and we need a strong and solid senator like Don Brown.
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Befuddled: You are right. We have the opportunity to become the Drone Development Center for the East Coast, Possible Rail development in Chocowinity, One of the largest phosphate deposits in the world, and could be the bedroom community for Greenville NC and look who is steering the ship. We need a real school board, County Commission and City Council. What is the plan for Washington? I wonder if the Camber, EDC, County Commission and City Council have ever had a collective meeting to work on synergism to bring us out of obscurity and stop losing people out of our county. We need capable candidates! Then, this group could have some clout to talk to our next line of authority. We need businesspeople at the helm. Our President is a great example.
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