Michael Whatley, the North Carolina Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters in Charlotte on March 4, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Michaels/Carolina Public Press)
Flanked by law enforcement, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Michael Whatley kicked off his general election campaign pledging to end “soft-on-crime policies” if elected.
Speaking at the Charlotte lodge of the state Fraternal Order of Police on Wednesday, he accepted the endorsement of the North Carolina Troopers Association and took aim at his rival, former Gov. Roy Cooper, for policies that Whatley said made North Carolina less safe.
“We need better. We need to back the blue. We need policies that are going to put more cops on the street, that are going to pay them better, and we need policies that are going to put dangerous criminals behind bars, not back on our streets,” Whatley said.
Retired North Carolina state trooper Richard Maness said the North Carolina Troopers Association, which advocates on behalf of the State Highway Patrol, was backing Whatley because they believe he is the best candidate to support law enforcement priorities.
“Michael Whatley believes in strong sentencing, real consequences for violent offenders, and he backs the blue,” Maness said. “North Carolina needs leadership that puts the safety of our communities first, and we believe that Michael Whatley is that leader.”
The press conference made clear that Whatley views public safety as the defining issue of the upcoming midterm elections in North Carolina as he begins what he called “an election focused on contrast.”
He blamed Cooper’s policies on crime for the death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, whose fatal stabbing on Charlotte Light Rail last year took place three miles from the forum where he delivered his remarks.
Former Gov. Roy Cooper speaks to a small group of supporters at a Raleigh brewery to launch his general election campaign on March 4, 2026. Whatley spent much of his own kickoff event attacking Cooper on crime policies. (Photo by Brandon Kingdollar/NC Newsline)Whatley repeated a previously debunked claim that DeCarlos Brown Jr., the man charged with her killing, was among 3,500 prisoners granted early release in 2021 due to a civil rights settlement over health risks from the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, Brown was released from prison five months earlier after serving his full sentence.
“My first act as a senator is going to put in a federal version of Iryna’s Law,” Whatley said. “I will fight every single day to make sure that no family has to suffer what her family has suffered, or other families across North Carolina have suffered, at the hands of the criminals that Roy Cooper and his soft-on-crime policies have released back onto the streets.”
Iryna’s Law, passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in September, limits pretrial release for violent offenders, promotes involuntary commitment of repeat offenders into mental facilities, and streamlines the death penalty in the state. Whatley declined to elaborate on what a federal version of the law would entail, deferring to law enforcement leadership.
Cabarrus County Sheriff Dan Shaw said at the event that he supports Whatley because of the candidate’s hardline stances on immigration and crime.
“If someone is committing violent crime in our community and they’re an illegal alien, they need to be deported, plain and simple. We don’t want them in our communities,” Shaw said. “With Michael Whatley, we’re going to get that leadership. He’s going to put law enforcement, public safety first.”
Whatley and members of law enforcement who spoke at the press conference also accused Cooper of supporting cashless bail and relaxed pretrial release measures, which Cooper denied when speaking to members of the media at his own campaign kickoff event in Raleigh Wednesday morning.
“I do not support cashless bail and have not,” Cooper said. “I think the important thing is for the other side to start telling the truth and to start getting really serious about public safety, and keeping people safe instead of using these lives as a political tool.”
Cooper campaign spokesperson Jordan Monaghan called the attacks false in a statement to NC Newsline Wednesday evening, writing that Cooper, who served as North Carolina attorney general for 16 years, is “the only candidate who spent his career prosecuting violent criminals” as well as “signing tough on crime laws and stricter pretrial release bail policy as governor.”
“I am honored to have the endorsement of the men behind me,” Whatley said. “I’m honored to fight every single day to keep our kids and our communities safe. It is the number one priority for us.”
Hence then, the article about michael whatley vows to put dangerous criminals behind bars as u s senate race gets underway was published today ( ) and is available on NC news line ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Michael Whatley vows to ‘put dangerous criminals behind bars’ as U.S. Senate race gets underway )
Also on site :