Charlotte Observer: “Whatley has yet to comment on the issue or answer questions about why he chose to appoint West to the role”
Michael Whatley continues to face scrutiny – even from the conservative Daily Haymaker – for knowingly elevating a convicted child sex predator and dodging reporter questions for the last 24 days.
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WFAE: Did Whatley elevate sex offender to positions in state GOP while he was party chairman?
Marshall Terry | April 1, 2026
- [Reporter Andy Specht:] Whatley hasn’t responded to our questions, or at least his campaign hasn’t.
- [Reporter Andy Specht:] [The Asheville Watchdog] did report that Whatley appointed West to the Plan of Organization Committee. It turned out that that was true, according to West. […] [The North Carolina Republican Party] did not dispute West’s claim that Whatley appointed West to the Plan of Organization Committee.
Charlotte Observer: Michael Whatley’s ties to a child sex offender are getting national attention
Paige Masten | April 1, 2026
- Unfortunately for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, his ties to a convicted sex offender are getting national attention.
- An article in the conservative Washington Examiner details how Whatley has come under fire for appointing Harvey Lee West to a prominent rule-making body in the North Carolina Republican Party despite West’s history as a child sex offender. West was charged with the statutory rape of three teenage girls in 1999, while he was working as a police officer near the Outer Banks, and he served six years in prison after pleading guilty to 16 charges of taking indecent liberties with a child in 2000.
- Meanwhile, Whatley has yet to comment on the issue or answer questions about why he chose to appoint West to the role.
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