U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley formally stepped down as Chair of the Republican National Committee. At a meeting in Atlanta, he discussed his time running the party through a presidential election that returned President Donald Trump to the White House.
“We had front row seats to the greatest political comeback in American history as President Trump was re-elected, winning the popular vote, an Electoral College landslide and a mandate to ‘Make America Great Again.’”
Whatley first took over as RNC Chair in February 2024, when former Chair Ronna McDaniel stepped down shortly after Trump clinched the Republican nomination for President to allow loyalists to take control of the party.
In January, Whatley won a full term as RNC Chair without opposition. But seven months into that, he said he must step down to run for Senate. He jumped into that race with Trump’s endorsement, and called the race for an open seat one of the most critical in the country.
“North Carolina deserves a strong conservative voice,” he said.
Whatley, presuming he wins the GOP nomination, will likely face former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. But he expressed confidence that voters in the Tar Heel State will want to keep Republicans in control of the Senate.
“It has become clear to me that the Democrats have not learned a thing from their losses in 2024,” he said. “They are doubling down on every single failed policy that they lost with last year’s election cycles. They’re running on higher taxes, open borders and radical transitions.”
Whatley will be succeeded as RNC Chair by Florida’s Republican National Committee member, Joe Gruters.
As for how he’s leaving the RNC, Gruters, the outgoing RNC Treasurer, said the organization was in good shape thanks to Whatley’s leadership. The organization currently has $84 million in cash on hand as it prepares for the 2026 Midterms.
“This guy has been a workforce, and we were leaving the party in much better shape,” Gruters said.
