(The Center Square) – North Carolina voters will choose between Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to succeed Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, multiple reports say.

Politico on Thursday morning at dawn was first to report Whatley, based on “two people familiar with the decision.” Cooper has long been the desired option for the state’s party supporters, and WRAL in Raleigh said “people familiar” with his plans confirmed Cooper’s intention.

Neither man has publicly announced himself a candidate. The seat is one of two held by the Grand Old Party in the chamber considered most vulnerable in the 2026 midterms. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has the other.

Whatley’s inclusion comes with Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump, saying she will not move from Florida to her native North Carolina and make a run. The two were hand-picked by the now two-term president to lead the 2024 election for the Republican National Committee, and Politico reports he’ll support Whatley for the seat.

Former U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel is the lone Democrat to declare intention for the election. No Republicans with name recognition have given intent. On each side, there have been a number of names bandied about.

Both candidates are expected to formally announce their campaigns within 10 days. Cooper is a headliner at this weekend’s state party convention for Democrats in Raleigh.

The formal filing period is in December, and March 3 is the date for primaries. However, past patterns indicate a candidate backed by Trump and one as popular for his party as Cooper could lead to little or no competition. That would allow each to generate campaign funding for November.

President Trump on Dec. 4 chose Whatley to continue as the chairman of the national committee. He’ll be unable to run for a third term in 2028. As was done with Trump before him, the national candidate for president is expected to name the RNC chairman – though Whatley did get a formal elected vote in March 2024.

Whatley, 56, is the former chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. When first chosen in March to succeed Ronna McDaniel, he said, “We are already well on our way to making Joe Biden a one-term president, and I look forward to working with every Republican to deliver victories up and down the ballot!”

He delivered in many places, none larger than the federal trifecta – Trump in the White House, the U.S. Senate flipped to a 53-47 majority for Republicans, and the U.S. House stayed with the GOP 220-215.

Cooper, a 68-year-old born and raised in the Nash County community of Nashville, claimed gubernatorial wins of Medicaid expansion, cumulative raises of 19% for teachers, and dismantling of the infamous bathroom bill, also known as House Bill 2, that now appears about eight years ahead of its time. The legislation didn’t allow boys and men to enter private spaces of the opposite sex by saying they were girls or women.

His losses are led by universal school choice, photo identification for voting, deregulation and abortion. The national move on the protection of women’s spaces is poised to erode a similar battle he won on HB2.

The potential battle of Whatley and Cooper will test trends. Cooper is 13-0 in elections for state House of Representatives, state Senate, state attorney general and governor. Republicans in statewide races for this decade – 2020, 2022 and 2024 – are 32-10 against Democrats.

Republicans are 5-for-5 in U.S. Senate races since losing to the late Kay Hagan in 2008. Democrats chase back to 1998 for the last time winning a Senate seat at the midterms.

Since Hagan’s win, nearly 1.3 million voter registrations have been added to the state rolls. Democrats have 555,811 fewer than they did then and Republicans have 289,657 more – an 845,468-registration difference.

(The Center Square) – Florida officials say the state’s investments, which support its pension funds and local governments, hit a record high on its asset values in the recently-concluded fiscal year.

This comes as lawmakers required the State Board of Administration to protect its investments from environmental, social, and corporate governance considerations and focus exclusively on its fiduciary duty to maximize returns for the state’s investments. The board was also required to divest its Chinese-based investments by September of last year. 

“This year’s record results reflect Florida’s commitment to responsible fiscal governance and financial discipline,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a release. “By focusing on returns, not political agendas, the SBA is securing the future for our law enforcement officers, firefighters, teachers and taxpayers alike.”

The board reported $277 billion assets under management for fiscal 2024-25 ending June 30. That’s a $20 billion improvement over last year’s figure.

The Florida Retirement System Pension Plan (defined benefit) reached a peak over $211 billion, while the Florida Retirement System Investment Plan (a 401(k)-style fund) hit an all-time high with an unaudited market value exceeding $20 billion.

Florida PRIME, a pool of investments run by the board, hit a new high of $34 billion. PRIME investors include state agencies, public universities and colleges, counties, cities, special districts and school boards, among other governmental entities. Last year, the plan’s funds totaled $25.3 billion.

“The State Board of Administration closed out a tremendously successful fiscal year with solid investment performance and significant operational improvements driving efficiency,” said SBA executive director Chris Spencer. “Our industry-leading investment and operations professionals will continue to deliver high quality service for our beneficiaries and the state of Florida in the fiscal year ahead.”

The board manages 29 investment funds with a total market value of $257.5 billion, which includes both retirement funds, the Local Government Surplus Funds Trust Fund and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, among others. 

This comes a year after the Florida Retirement System’s pension and investment plans did not meet their one-year benchmarks.

The report by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability released in April also found that the Investment Plan didn’t meet its three-year benchmark, while the Pension Plan failed to meet its 25-year funding objective.

The board invests about half of the managed funds into global equities (stocks), with the latest figure at 48.5%.

The Pension Fund earned a rate of return of 10.5%, still 0.6% below its benchmark of 11%. 

The Investment Fund earned 13.4%, 0.4% before its expected benchmark. 

(The Center Square) – At the northern border, Border Patrol agents continue to arrest Iranians and weapons traffickers and are helping seize record amounts of fentanyl.

While illegal border crossings are down at the northern border under the Trump administration, Border Patrol agents in the busiest northern border Swanton Sector are continuing to interdict crime. The sector includes all of Vermont, six upstate New York counties, and three New Hampshire counties.

Earlier this month, Border Patrol Agents from the Champlain Station in New York responded to a report of suspicious activity near Mooers Forks, New York. Upon arrival, they located a minivan occupied by five Iranian citizens and two Uzbekistan citizens – all adult men in the country illegally.

Border Patrol agents then determined all seven men “had previously illegally entered the United States at various locations along both the U.S./Mexico border and the U.S./Canada border,” Swanton Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said. They were detained and are being processed for removal.

“Border security is national security and directly correlates to public safety,” Garcia said, adding that “Swanton Sector agents remain vigilant and committed to protecting our borders and enforcing immigration laws.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are also arresting Iranians in the country illegally, including Revolutionary Guard soldiers, after more than 1,500 Iranians illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, with more than 700 released into the U.S., The Center Square exclusively reported.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents notified the New York State Police about a suspected driver of a vehicle allegedly involved in smuggling activity in upstate New York. State troopers responded, located and stopped the vehicle near Albany, Garcia said. A subsequent vehicle search resulted in a seizure of roughly 4.7 pounds of powdered fentanyl, enough to kill more than one million people.

“This seizure is a powerful reminder of why strong partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement are vital to our national security and public safety,” Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents helped ATF federal partners apprehend a criminal foreign national wanted for weapons trafficking. Honduran national Yubert Yasiel Lopez-Lopez, 31, was arrested in North Attleboro, Mass., after he illegally reentered the country after he was previously deported.

He was first apprehended in 2014 after illegally entering the U.S. in Hidalgo, Texas, under the Obama administration. A federal immigration judge in Houston ordered his removal, which occurred four years later under the first Trump administration. In 2022, he again illegally entered the country in Yuma, Arizona, under the Biden administration. It took another three years to arrest him, this time in Massachusetts, with authorities learning he was wanted in Honduras on weapons trafficking charges. A federal grand jury indicted him last month in Vermont, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted and removal from the U.S. for a third time.

“We continue to enforce federal immigration laws and seek maximum consequences against those who violate them,” Garcia said.

Garcia also regularly thanks members of the public for supporting Border Patrol efforts, sometimes acting as the eyes and ears for agents in rural areas by calling in sightings of illegal border crossers or suspicious activity. He continues to encourage members of the public to report suspicious border activity in the Swanton Sector by calling 1-800-689-3362.

The sector was hit hard under the Biden administration with illegal border crossings from Canada reaching record levels, totaling nearly one million, according to CBP data and gotaway data exclusively reported by The Center Square. The greatest number ever reported in U.S. history in the sector was in fiscal 2024 of nearly 200,000, excluding those who evaded capture, The Center Square reported.