Election 2026: Poll indicates Whatley needs to stop non-MAGA bleeding

(The Center Square) – To turn the tide in the polls and prevail on Nov. 3, Republican Michael Whatley “must stop the bleeding with non-MAGA Republicans,” says a Fox News pollster.

In a poll released this week by the network in conjunction with Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research, Democrat Roy Cooper leads Whatley 53%-44%. The sampling of 1,005 registered voters was taken last Thursday through Monday and has a +/- 3% margin of error.

Absentee ballots go into the mail Sept. 4 – five weeks away. North Carolinians will choose a U.S. senator, all 14 members of the U.S. House, and all 170 members of the General Assembly.

This U.S. Senate seat is a viewed as a major player nationally in the quest for majority in the chamber. Republicans have 53 seats today. In no particular order, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Maine, Iowa, New Hampshire, Alaska and Texas are the other top battlegrounds among 35 races.

“Recent data put the average Republican advantage in North Carolina statewide races at about 3...