Both NC Senate candidates are talking about high prices. Who will voters believe?
Both of North Carolina’s U.S. Senate candidates are pitching voters on plans to address the cost of everyday life. Political experts say one of them may have an advantage on the issue.
Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper faces former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the race to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis. The high-interest race is likely to help decide which party controls the U.S. Senate and trigger big spending from both sides.
In the opening weeks of their general election campaigns, both have centered messaging around the economy, especially affordability. Cooper’s campaign dubbed its first run of events the “Make Stuff Cost Less” tour, while Whatley told reporters at one of his first campaign events in Charlotte addressing cost of living is “certainly my focus in this campaign.”
It’s a potent issue with North Carolina voters, particularly because of the economic impact of the war in Iran, state politics experts say.
“That word is in the lexicon,” Davidson College political scientist Susan Roberts said of affordability as a campaign issue. “... Americans kind of get the picture on affordability. It’s much more tangible than talking about ‘the economy.’”
Republicans banked wins nationwide off of affordability in 2024, but those fortunes could reverse in 2026 as GOP candidates grapple with lingering concerns more than a year into President Donald Trump’s second term in office.
“That’s the very nature of winning the White House and control of Congress. You then hold responsibility and accountability,” said Michael Bitzer, a professor at Catawba College and the director of the school’s Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service.
Cooper, Whatley talk economic issues on campaign trail
The Cooper campaign’s opening salvo focused on three components of affordability: grocery prices, health care and energy and utility costs. His “Make Stuff Cost Less” plan calls for an end to the Trump administration’s tariffs, reversing cuts to Medicaid and tax credits for people who get health insurance through the federal marketplace, and making data centers pay for “the full cost of all the power they use.”
In a statement, Cooper’s campaign said North Carolinians “have gotten crushed by rising costs and left behind by politicians in Washington” and targeted Whatley for his past work as lobbyist for oil and natural gas companies.
Whatley, flanked by GOP U.S. Rep. Tim Moore and federal Housing Secretary Scott Turner, touted the Trump administration’s affordable housing policies at a March roundtable with Charlotte-area real estate and development leaders.
His campaign said in a statement Whatley “will support tax relief for working families to strengthen the economy and put more money into family budgets across North Carolina.” Whatley’s campaign website did not include an issues page on the economy as of Wednesday.
Will affordability influence NC voters?
Affordability is often key to winning over voters because they’re exposed to “day to day indicators” of how the country is doing on the issue so regularly, Bitzer said.
“They go to the grocery store, they go fill up their tank. They’re buying services or goods, and they’re seeing the prices fluctuate and or increase … That’s going to shape the frame by which they’re evaluating who they’re potentially going to be voting for come November,” he said.
While the intense division in today’s politics can “counterbalance” the importance of affordability in an election, Bitzer said, “pocketbook issues” are frequently still deciding factors for voters.
“Economics could drive a small sliver, enough to make the difference when it comes to November’s votes,” he predicted.
Concerns about cost of living can also “eclipse” negative campaign advertisements, Roberts said.
“Affordability is just easier to understand,” she said.
The war in Iran could make affordability an even more influential issue with voters in 2026, Roberts added. The conflict has snarled access to oil and gas, driving up prices and sparking fears among some economists about a potential recession.
“The issue is front and center, all over the news,” Roberts said. “And so it affects their pocketbook and their view of what’s going on in the country.”
Who has advantage with voters on cost of living?
The economy helped propel Trump and his party back into power in 2024, polling before and after the election showed.
But Democrats picked up momentum on the issue in 2025 races with messaging centered on cost of living, including sizable wins in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races. And recent polling puts Trump’s approval rating at new lows.
Those will be difficult headwinds for Whatley to combat, Bitzer and Roberts both said, especially since members of the sitting president’s party already tend to be at a disadvantage in competitive midterm elections.
“It’s going to be harder for the rhetoric to match the reality for the Republicans,” Roberts said.
Asked about whether the GOP will struggle on the economy in 2026, Whatley told reporters at his March campaign event Trump and fellow Republicans are “getting ourselves out of the ditch that Democrats put us into” during the Biden administration.
Roberts questioned whether that messaging will resonate with voters two years after they ousted Democrats from the White House.
“How long can you blame Biden?” she asked.
Bitzer said the “blame game” will turn towards Republicans like Whatley this time around.
“Whoever is in power, suffers either the credit or the blame,” he said.
On whether that can be decisive in North Carolina, both Roberts and Bitzer pointed to the famous adage attributed to veteran political strategist James Carville: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
