Michael Whatley\u2019s campaign has temporarily gone dark in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

The Republican Senate nominee does not currently have future linear TV ad reservations booked in the race, a highly unusual move less than three weeks before Election Day in a state that was once considered a top GOP priority.<\/p>\n

Whatley\u2019s last broadcast TV ad aired one week ago, according to tracking firm AdImpact<\/a>. The pause comes as Republicans and major outside GOP groups, including Senate Leadership Fund, disinvest from the state<\/a> in an acknowledgement of the difficulty of beating Democratic nominee Roy Cooper in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a temporary pause and we\u2019ll be back on the air shortly with our closing message that may or may not ask voters why does our elderly opponent refuse to answer basic questions about his health and ability to serve in the U.S. Senate,\u201d Whatley spokesperson DJ Griffin said in a statement. \u201cWe are confident we have the resources needed to win the only poll that matters \u2014 Election Day in November.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper\u2019s campaign, by contrast, has $7.4 million in future TV ad reservations, in addition to $11.2 million from outside groups. Republican outside groups have just $4.7 million reserved, giving Democrats a nearly 4 to 1 advantage in future TV ad spending, according to an analysis of AdImpact data.<\/p>\n

The move by Whatley\u2019s campaign is rare this close to the election, a period when candidates typically ramp up their advertising as voters begin casting ballots.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always going to be a tough seat for Rs to hold,\u201d said Doug Heye, a longtime GOP strategist who is from North Carolina. \u201cTrump\u2019s numbers are in the tank and Cooper is a good candidate who has won statewide. This is what was always going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper, who has repeatedly led Whatley in public polling<\/a> and candidate fundraising, enters the final stretch of the campaign as the clear frontrunner over Whatley, a former chair of the Republican National Committee and the handpicked candidate of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Cooper sharply refuted the Whatley campaign\u2019s characterizations about the Democrat\u2019s health: \u201cThese are more desperate lies from a desperate candidate,\u201d Kate Smart said in a statement. \u201cRoy Cooper has held over 350 events over the course of this campaign, is in excellent health and will obviously serve his full term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Major outside groups on both sides have already begun retreating from North Carolina. The GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund paused its spending<\/a> in the state earlier this month, while other Republican groups, including Old North Action, have also pulled back.<\/p>\n

Democrats are increasingly bullish on Cooper\u2019s chances of flipping the seat \u2014 one of four pickups the party needs to win back the Senate, assuming it defends all of its current seats. The Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC has also started pausing its spending in North Carolina<\/a>, increasingly turning their attention to fund other, competitive Senate races.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"