Revolt grows as GOP Senate hopeful championed convicted child sex offender for party roles
By Matthew Chapman
Published March 11, 2026 4:25 PM ET
North Carolina GOP Senate candidate Michael Whatley has tried to paint his Democratic opponent, former Gov. Roy Cooper, as soft on crime — but a new report indicates Whatley himself forgave a sex offender accused of sexually assaulting teenagers in one of his hires for a party office.
According to the Asheville Watchdog, "Whatley, former chairman of the state and national Republican Party, is at the center of the spreading revolt after championing the rise to power of Harvey L. West Jr. Whatley appointed West to lead the GOP’s 1st Congressional District committee in the state’s eastern corner, and to head the party’s powerful Plan of Organization committee, which effectively controls rulemaking."
However, "West, 54, was a 28-year-old police officer in Washington, a small town in Beaufort County near the Outer Banks, in 1999 when he was arrested and charged with the statutory rape of three girls, two aged 14 and one aged 16. The charge is among the state’s most serious felonies and is defined legally as sexual intercourse with a person aged 15 or younger and the perpetrator is at least six years older. Consent is not a defense."
https://www.rawstory.com/michael-whatley-2676085202/