North Carolina Senate Race

Fox News reports that North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley is attacking Democratic rival and former Gov. Roy Cooper over the 2025 stabbing death of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light‑rail system, tying the killing to Cooper’s 2021 COVID‑era prison‑conditions settlement and claiming it helped free 'child molesters, rapists, and murderers.' The suspect, 34‑year‑old Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., is accused of fatally stabbing Zarutska near the East West Boulevard station on Aug. 22, 2025, and critics argue he was out because of that settlement, though the article does not independently document that causal link. Whatley’s campaign turned its primary‑night party invite into a taunt about where Brown 'will not be' and insinuated violent offenders back Cooper, while Cooper’s spokesperson called the accusations false and stressed Cooper’s record as attorney general and governor prosecuting violent crime and tightening pretrial release. Both men won their respective primaries Tuesday and will face each other to replace retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, ensuring crime policy, prison releases and the Zarutska case will be central themes in a race with national implications for Senate control. The story also notes federal transit officials have labeled crime on Charlotte’s system above the national average and cited 'systemic failures' in their review of the killing, adding institutional context to the campaign’s blame game.