Roy Cooper and Michael Whatley hit campaign trail, focus on key issues

NORTH CAROLINA — One day after securing their spots in the United States Senate race, Roy Cooper and Michael Whatley are already on the campaign trail.

Affordability and crime are two issues we are going to hear about over and over again over the next few months. The Political Beat’s Joe Bruno hit the trail with Roy Cooper and Michael Whatley as they officially kicked off their campaigns.

During day one of general election campaigning, Cooper focused on high grocery prices. Whatley focused on crime. Both candidates took questions from reporters after their speeches.

Governor Roy Cooper’s campaign stop happened first on Wednesday. He launched his “Make Stuff Cost Less” tour at Clouds Brewery in Raleigh.

“When you’re in a Food Lion or a Harris Teeter, wherever it might be, it is clear that grocery prices are just too high,” Cooper said. “I think North Carolina families have had enough.”

At the brewery, Cooper unveiled his plans to bring down grocery prices. They include repealing tariffs, blocking corporate mergers, banning stores from pricing groceries differently for different customers, and making it illegal for food producers to coordinate prices by using algorithms.

Roy Cooper's Plan if elected to Senate Roy Cooper's Plan if elected to the Senate. (WSOC.)

“North Carolina, the people here will be my total focus when I get to Washington,” Cooper said.

Michael Whatley’s campaign stop was on Wednesday afternoon. He was joined by members of the law enforcement community. At the Charlotte Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police, surrounded by local sheriffs and officers, the North Carolina Troopers Association endorsed his campaign.

“We need to back the blue,” Whatley said. “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.”

Whatley says his first act as Senator will be filing a federal version of Iryna’s Law. That’s the North Carolina law passed after the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska that cracks down on cashless bail and requires repeat offenders to be held on no bond when arrested for certain violent offenses. Whatley advised state lawmakers in the early stages of the drafting of the bill.

Michael Whatley Goals in Senate Michael Whatley's Goals in the Senate. (WSOC.)

“The highest, most important function of any government, whether it is a state, local government or the federal government, is protecting its citizens,” Whatley said.

This is just day 1 of the campaign. Between now and November, Whatley will discuss affordability, and Cooper will discuss crime.

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