“I want to thank President Trump,” Whatley said. “Without his vision, without his leadership, without what he has done over the last 10 years to remake the Republican Party into the party that is going to stand for every family and every community all across the country, we would not be sitting here today.”

Whatley’s announcement coupled with former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s decision to run is producing estimations of the most expensive U.S. Senate race in American history. The numbers clear $500 million and could reach $750 million.

The two heavyweights of their parties also clear out any likely primary challenges on March 3. Victory Insights was first to release a poll on Thursday, giving a statistical tie in a 3% lead for Cooper with undecided voters leaning Republican.

Whatley said his campaign will be about North Carolina values. He named a “strong economy, safe communities, and an America that is respected around the world. And we will win because we will fight every single day for North Carolina and the values that we hold so dear.”

He said he would fight to eliminate sanctuary cities and “back the blue” every day, a reference to secure borders and support of lawmen at every level.

“We have more than 720,000 veterans who call North Carolina home,” Whatley said. “I will fight for our veterans as hard as they fought for us.”

He called Cooper “radical” and said the former governor would try to appease voters as being moderate.

“He has never seen a dollar he didn’t want to tax, and he didn’t want to spend,” Whatley said.

Whatley said he became a Republican at the age of 12 on the day Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in 1981, with news of hostages in Iran released.

“It was a quick lesson that even a 12-year-old kid could pick up in peace through strength,” Whatley said. “And it was an important lesson that elections have consequences.”

He chastised the Biden administration for putting the country in “freefall,” inflation, with high consumer prices. He cited foreign trade policies detrimental to American farmers and manufacturers, and immigration woes bringing human trafficking and fentanyl inside the country’s borders.

Whatley said the president told him on Election Night about the opportunities ahead for the restoration of the economy and the borders, and “to make sure America was going to be the greatest country on the face of the Earth.”

“And six months in,” he said, “it’s pretty clear to say, America is back.”

Whatley is seeking public office for the first time. His education includes undergraduate work in history at UNC Charlotte, a master’s in religion from Wake Forest, and degrees in both law and theology from Notre Dame.

GOP UNITES BEHIND WHATLEY AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES SHOWDOWN WITH COOPER IN NORTH CAROLINA

He worked in the Department of Energy for the George W. Bush administration; was chief of staff for former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.; and in the first Trump administration was part of the teams for presidential transition on energy, the environment and agriculture.

Whatley was chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party before he was tapped to lead the national committee last year. He shared in that duty with Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara, a Wilmington native living in Florida.