A new political ad marks a sharp escalation in the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Roy Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley, turning Hurricane Helene recovery into a central line of attack by accusing Whatley of overseeing delays of more than $100 million in disaster relief and framing the stalled aid as a failure of leadership, rather than of bureaucracy. 

A pair of ads center on the claim that Whatley was tapped to lead the recovery but failed to deliver timely assistance. 

To the Editor:

Republicans are fiscally responsible. They lower taxes on working folks and make things less expensive. Republicans make our country safer. They care about the common folk. They run things like a business.

Right? Let’s look at our current situation. 

Western North Carolina pulled into the congressional drive-thru after Hurricane Helene, placed a large order and waited. And waited. And waited.

What Rep. Chuck Edwards finally handed his constituents was an empty paper bag containing a rather large nothingburger — heavy on branding, light on substance and nowhere near the $60 billion recovery order his storm-famished district actually placed. 

If there were an award for being hardest to find while holding an important job, Michael Whatley would have no competition, because he’s the only entry.

President Donald Trump named Whatley Western North Carolina’s hurricane recovery czar at a Jan. 24 briefing, saying he wanted Whatley in charge of making sure “everything goes well.” Trump praised Whatley’s work and assured folks Whatley would be the one to fix it. 

Michael Whatley’s first trip to Western North Carolina as President Donald Trump’s hand-picked Hurricane Helene “recovery czar” was not the sort of open, public event many victims of the storm had hoped for; instead, Whatley appeared Sept. 22 at a closed-door FEMA Review Council meeting in Fletcher where a leaked agenda lists him as a subcommittee co-chair and “former Republican National Committee chair” — not as the person Trump tapped to head up widely-panned recovery efforts. 

As anger grows over the slow pace of federal recovery funding for Hurricane Helene and Republicans in charge of recovery continue to scramble for political cover, a spokesperson for Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Henderson) delivered a long list of false claims relating to Edwards’ role in procuring the help — or not procuring the help — Western North Carolina still so desperately needs. 

To The Editor:

My friends who are Donald Trump supporters have been claiming that President Trump has kept all his promises, that’s why they still support him.