Daily Update - December 3, 2025

Republicans have four months to pick a nominee who can actually win

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About Reuel Sample

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Wednesday December 3rd, 2025.

According to The Center Square, North Carolina Republicans will have a primary consisting of at least 3 candidates: Michael Whatley – Chair of the National Republican Party, former Navy JAG officer and present constitutional attorney Don Brown, and Republican newcomer from Smithfield Elizabeth Temple. Primary Election Day is March 3, 2026 – giving North Carolina Republicans just about 4 months to get to know these candidates in order to make the best choice for the general election in November.

Problem is – it is not just Republicans who will help pick the GOP candidate.

North Carolina is one of 15 states in the union that have semi-closed primaries. What that means is if you are a registered Republican or Democrat – you can only vote in your party. You do not get to help pick the opposing party’s nominee.

But if you are an Independent – Unaffiliated in the political parlance – you are able to chose on primary day which party you are going to vote in. And that is the problem.

Independents make up the single largest voting bloc in North Carolina, coming in at roughly 39% of all registered voters. Unaffiliated voters who participate in the primaries will help decide and possibly play a major role in determining who is the best candidate for a party to which they have no allegiance whatsoever. Independent voters also tend to be very issue oriented – and will vote that way - regardless of whether their stated candidate can win in the general election.

The semi closed primary is not going away. So Republicans need to take these next four months to figure out which candidate has the best shot against a wildly popular former governor who does not have to waste any money on a Senate primary race and who dominates against any Republican in recent polls. Republicans need to be big-picture minded – and chose a candidate who might not check every box in their perfect candidate list – but who can indeed win against Govenor Cooper and keep the US Senate firmly in the hands of the GOP.

And then – unlike their performance in the recent Wilmington elections – Republicans need to show up at the polls in March – and November - to vote.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

Reuel Sample is the Editor-in-Chief of The Wilmington Standard. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he has served as both a Presbyterian Pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is the product of a classical liberal arts education combined with real world experience in politics and business and conservative Christian worldview firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. He is the host of several podcasts including the NHC GOP Podcast, the Pastor's Voice, and co-hosts the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. An avid sailor, he has sailed around the world as a youth and to the Azores as a teen as well as extensive trips up and down the east coast of the United States. He is honored to be married to his wife Pam and makes his home in Wilmington, NC.