To the Editor:
GOP candidate for Senate in North Carolina, Michael Whatley, lies are so flagrant that they are easily exposed by cross-checking several independent sources, chief among them the N.C. Prison System administration. Whatley’s lies concern his opponent in the Senate election.
Former Gov. Roy Cooper is running to represent North Carolina in the Senate. Voters who paid attention during Cooper’s two terms know Whatley and his out-of-state billionaire-funded PACs are lying. Unfortunately, many voters either lived elsewhere or were too busy earning a living to follow every issue closely, especially during COVID.
Why the Whatley ads? Two reasons: first, voters’ longtime support of Gov. Cooper is so strong that the Whatley campaign has stooped to outright lies. Why was Cooper elected repeatedly? He is so widely respected and liked by Republicans, independents, and Democrats that he won the governorship twice in a row — when Trump won the state handily.
Roy Cooper was first our attorney general. Throughout his career as AG, Cooper prosecuted — successfully — violent criminals and kept violent convicted felons in prison. As governor, he championed tough crime laws and ensured that pretrial release bail policies were strictly followed.
A second reason for the pro-Whatley ads is Whatley’s need to hide his own years-long friendship with Harvey Lee West, Jr., who served six years in prison for rape of three teenaged girls — while he was a policeman.
The truth about the ads attacking Cooper: that Governor Cooper had no control over felons who are the subject of Whatley campaign ads. In fact, the ACLU criticized Cooper for fighting their lawsuit to reduce prison overcrowding during COVID.
The N.C. Dept. of Adult Corrections explained that Decarlos Brown, the subject of one ad, was not released early. A court-mandated release for non-violent felons was signed after Brown had served his sentence. Quoting prison officials, the Charlotte Observer explained that “because the (COVID) settlement allowed the state to count certain cases retroactively to meet its terms, Brown’s case was included on the list even though he had already been released from prison months earlier and his custody status was not changed by the settlement.”
Read details in the Observer’s “Fact check: Gov. Roy Cooper did not release DeCarlos Brown Jr. early from prison” (Feb. 9, 2026). See also The Assembly, “The Politics of a Prison-Release Settlement” (July 27, 2026).
Another ex-convict, Tyrell Brace, had also served his full sentence. Even if Brace had been returned to prison for a parole violation, he would have been free months before he killed a young woman. So again, Whatley lies.
Likewise, Lucas Scronce is a drug and stolen property ex-con. Scronce had been free for over three years when he killed his baby daughter.
The truth about Michael Whatley: his ties to Harvey Lee West are public record. See a report by Tom Fiedler, Pulitzer Prize-winning political reporter and dean emeritus of Boston University, “Democracy Watch: Links between convicted sex offender, state GOP leadership may complicate candidacies.” Fiedler lives in Asheville.
Whatley, as former Republican National Party head, appointed ex-convict Harvey Lee West to chair the Republican Party’s N.C. Congressional District 1 (Dare County). Whately and West have been friends at least since at least 2019.
Republican statewide candidates, including those running for the N.C. Supreme Court, refuse to answer questions about West, and Whatley’s support of him. Whatley refused to answer The Smoky Mountain News questions about their relationship. See the Smoky Mountain News, “Parents target Whatley over sex offender controversy” (May 6, 2026).
Sickeningly, Republicans have a strong record of ignoring the crimes of child molesters/rapists, from Trump and his Department of Justice’s violations of federal law to suppress the Epstein files all the way down to North Carolina Republican candidates. Voters, remember the old saying, “You are known by the company you keep.”
Mary J. Curry,
Haywood County