Voters in North Carolina took to the polls Tuesday to select their primary candidates in several races, including a high-stakes U.S. Senate race. After Republican Senator Thom Tillis announced his retirement last June, over a dozen candidates threw their hats in the ring — six Republicans and six Democrats.

Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday for voters to select their primary candidates for Tillis’ open Senate seat, as well as 14 U.S. House of Representatives seats.

Trump said Whatley is ‘fantastic at everything he does’ in an endorsement message.

Trump-endorsed Michael Whatley won the Republican primary election decisively Tuesday night after delayed polling results were released. Whatley pulled in over 234,000, or 63.8%, of the votes, as of 9:00 p.m. ET, according to WFAA.

Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was considered the favorite on the Democratic ballot. As expected, Cooper won the Democratic nomination handily, according to WFAA.

RELATED: Tuesday’s must-watch primaries: The races that will determine if America First takes over in 2026

Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D)Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Whatley celebrated the victory on social media shortly after the race was called: “Thank you North Carolina! I’m honored to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. Republicans are united. Now the real fight begins. This November, North Carolina voters will have a choice: Safer Communities, Secure Borders, More Jobs and Lower Costs or Roy Cooper’s failed record. Let’s win.”

In a statement obtained by Blaze News, Senate Leadership Fund Executive Director Alex Latcham congratulated Whatley: “SLF congratulates future U.S. Senator Michael Whatley on his primary victory tonight, where he once again proved that he is the leader who can build winning coalitions and ensure North Carolina remains red this November.”

“Meanwhile, Roy Cooper’s failed leadership left families without homes after Hurricane Helene, raised prices across the board, and prioritized far-left ideologies over North Carolina values,” Latcham went on. “Voters know that Roy Cooper cannot be trusted to represent them in Washington, and Senate Leadership Fund will firmly fight to ensure Michael Whatley is elected this November.”

Trump said Whatley is “fantastic at everything he does” in an endorsement message posted to Truth Social last month. With Trump’s blessing, Whatley also served as the chair of the Republican National Committee from March 2024 to August 2025.

Other candidates who appeared on the GOP ballot include Michele Morrow, Don Brown, Richard Dansie, Thomas Johnson, and Elizabeth Anne Temple. Additionally, Margot Dupre’s name reportedly appeared on the ballot, but she was disqualified for not having eligible voter registration in the state, according to WRAL.

Other Democrat candidates include Daryl Farrow, Justin E. Dues, Robert Colon, Marcus W. Williams, and Orrick Quick.

Originally scheduled to close at 7:30 p.m. local time, the poll closing time was pushed back by one hour at a precinct in Halifax County due to an issue that delayed the site’s opening, WBTV reported.

The precinct that experienced the issues was Halifax County’s Littleton precinct. The voting location was Littleton United Methodist Church, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections’ press release regarding the decision.

“With more than 2,600 polling sites statewide, it is not unusual for minor issues to occur at polling sites that result in brief disruptions of voting. The State Board routinely meets to discuss the extension of hours when the need arises on Election Day,” the Board said in the statement.

As a result, no primary results were reported until 8:30 p.m. ET.

North Carolina is considered by many to be a key battleground state that could serve as a potential indicator for the fate of the remainder of Trump’s second term.

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An influencer on TikTok was ordered by a jury to pay millions to a professor she defamed by blaming her for the heinous 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students.

TikTok tarot reader Ashley Guillard from Texas got millions of views for posting videos wherein she falsely claimed University of Idaho assistant history professor Rebecca Scofield was romantically involved with one of the female students killed.

‘You were making [dozens] of videos about me, someone you never met, you never talked to — someone you had no connection to.’

Guillard also said Scofield had ordered the murders.

Scofield said in a lawsuit filed in 2022 that she had never met any of the students and that the accusations had hurt her career and caused her mental anguish.

On Friday, a jury agreed and unanimously ordered the influencer to pay $10 million in damages. Of that, $7.5 million was portioned as punitive damages, while the rest was compensatory.

Guillard represented herself during the trial and related how she left her husband and got interested in tarot and numerology before teaching herself through YouTube videos how to read the cards. She also claimed that she had honed her psychic abilities by testing her predictions on reality television shows.

Scofield testified that the elaborate videos delved into her personal and professional life and felt “utterly terrifying” to her.

She also was able to confront Guillard when she was cross-examined by the defendant.

“You spoke lies into a camera about me and my husband,” Scofield said to Guillard. “You were making [dozens] of videos about me, someone you never met, you never talked to — someone you had no connection to. I don’t know how anyone could not feel threatened by that level of interest from someone they had never met.”

RELATED: Professor sues TikTok tarot card reader and crime sleuth who accused her of ordering murder of 4 Idaho students over romantic entanglement

Guillard tried to defend her claims against Scofield during the court case, but the jury remained unpersuaded. She previously said she was eager to present her evidence to the court.

“I am actually gleaming with excitement,” she said at the time. “I’m going to immediately start planning because I cannot wait to present my ideas in court regarding Rebecca Scofield and her role in the murder of the four University of Idaho students.”

Police arrested Bryan Kohberger on Dec. 30, 2022, and charged him with the murders after allegedly finding his DNA on the weapon. In July 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty in order to avoid the death penalty.

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A year-long investigation into prostitution led to raids at the home and adult bookstores allegedly owned by one man, according to Dallas police sources.

Department of Justice agents along with Dallas Police officers raided multiple locations on Feb. 13 related to the Paris Adult Book Store as well as a home in Plano.

‘It’s a big deal if the IRS is involved. They might shut it down for good.’

The identify of the owner has not yet been released.

A day prior to the raids, the City of Dallas shut down Pandora’s Men’s Club Dallas over accusations of promotion of prostitution and narcotics sales by workers. WFAA-TV said it was unclear if that action was related to the raids.

Sources told WFAA that the owner faced prostitution, trafficking, and money laundering charges.

Plano Police officers as well as Internal Revenue Service agents were also involved in the raids.

“You name it, they over there!” remarked Roy King, a resident who witnessed the raids and spoke to WFAA. “I ain’t never seen nothing like this in my whole entire life!”

Other business owners in the area said the street is known as “the Blade,” but while they told WFAA that lots of “ugly” activity happened there, they did not want to speak publicly about it.

Dallas Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis said she was “happy to see this effort to combat illegal activity in a high crime corridor” in a post on social media.

The Dallas Police Dept. released a brief statement with few details.

“The activity is part of an ongoing, multi-agency effort focused on public safety and the disruption of criminal activity within the community. Due to the nature of the investigation, no additional details are available currently,” the DPD said.

RELATED: 14-year-old girls that went missing from sleepover were forced into prostitution by men they met online, police say

Bianca Davis, the CEO of a nonprofit that helps trafficked girls and women, said the networks are getting more sophisticated every day.

“We can come up with 400 signs of what to look for, and someone will show up with the 401st sign. It is just ever-changing,” she said.

She expects that an investigation will lead to cellphone and computer communications that can uncover the extent of the criminal network.

“It’s a big deal if the IRS is involved. They might shut it down for good,” said local business owner Eddie Radoncic to KXAS-TV.

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As the Department of Health and Human Services dives into the chronic disease epidemic in America, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is calling on officials to investigate something else as well: “the phenomenon that is liberal white women and why they are so mentally unstable.”

“I don’t get it. I want to get it. It is destroying the country,” Gonzales says, before playing a clip of a “scholar” who studies the “far right.”

“You already know she’s terrible and insufferable just from that basic point, but she decided to flee America. That’s probably partially because of the TDS,” she adds.

“This is day one as a refugee in Canada. We made it across the border yesterday afternoon, and we’re in an Airbnb now. I don’t have a home. Some people can choose to leave, and some people are forced to leave, and I am one of the ones that have been forced to leave,” the woman said in a TikTok video she’s recording of herself.

“I think a lot about, like, Jews in Nazi Germany, and for a long time I was like, why didn’t they get out? You know, like, the signs were so clear, and things were so bad for so long. Why didn’t they get out?” The woman continued.

“That is the most horribly offensive thing I have ever heard in my entire life. I mean, the way that they call us all Nazis, obviously, but to say that, I mean, they’re constantly bastardizing the term Nazi, Nazi Germany,” Gonzales comments, disgusted.

“But she found out that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side,” she continues, before playing more of the self-described “refugee” woman’s TikTok.

“The situation in Canada is absolutely dire. For Americans who don’t know, the housing crisis here is worse than in the United States. I lived in L.A. for six years, and I have not faced rent as bad as here. And in Canada, I think it’s actually the cost-of-living crisis is worse here,” the woman said into the camera.

“Especially when you are shut out of the health care system, when you can’t access any of the resources that Canadians have access to. And that’s understandable, you know, I’m not a citizen of the country, but it is making the financial situation dire because we can’t work, because there are two adults, a cat and a dog,” the woman continued.

“Her brain is broken,” Gonzales comments.

“I would just ask HHS: You could do the coolest thing and save the country if you just figured out how to reverse TDS. It’s causing major problems,” she continues. “Then again, we’re probably lucky that she’s gone. So maybe not. Maybe just leave her there.”

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A father was charged with murder after his teen son was accused of fatally shooting four in a Georgia high school in 2024 — and on Tuesday a jury returned a verdict in the case against the dad.

The jury found Colin Gray guilty of all charges in the deadly shooting his son is accused of carrying out at Apalachee High School in Winder, which is northeast of Atlanta, the Associated Press reported.

Colt Gray — who was 14 at the time of the shooting — pleaded not guilty to 55 counts, including murder, the AP said.

The outlet said Gray “now joins a growing number” of parents being held responsible after their children have been accused in shootings.

More from the AP:

Colin Gray was found guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Georgia law defines second-degree murder as causing the death of a child by committing the crime of cruelty to children. Gray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the killings of teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.

Another teacher and eight other students were wounded. Gray was also convicted of multiple counts of reckless conduct and cruelty to children.

RELATED: 4 killed, 9 injured in shooting at Georgia high school, officials say

Gray will be sentenced at a later date, the AP said, adding that second-degree murder is punishable by at least 10 but no more than 30 years in prison; involuntary manslaughter carries a penalty of one to 10 years in prison.

“We talk a lot about rights in our country,” Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith told the outlet after the verdict. “But God gave us a duty to protect our children, and I hope that we remember that, as parents, as community members, to protect our children because that is our God-given duty.”

The teen’s mother, Marcee Gray, wasn’t charged, the AP said.

She testified that she urged her estranged husband to lock all guns inside his truck so their son Colt couldn’t access them, the outlet noted. She and Colin Gray were separated in the months leading up to the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting, the AP reported, and Colt lived mostly with his father during that time.

Prosecutors said Colin Gray gave Colt the gun he’s accused of using in the school shooting as a Christmas gift and allowed him access to it along with ammunition despite the boy’s deteriorating mental health, the outlet reported, adding that they said Colin Gray had “sufficient warning that Colt Gray would harm and endanger” others.

Colt Gray — who was 14 at the time of the shooting — pleaded not guilty to 55 counts, including murder, the AP said, adding that his judge set a status hearing for mid-March.

More from the AP:

Investigators said Colt Gray carefully planned the shooting at the school attended by 1,900 students.

He boarded the school bus with a semiautomatic, assault-style rifle in his book bag, the barrel sticking out and wrapped in poster board, investigators said. He left his second-period class and emerged from a bathroom with the gun and then shot people in a classroom and hallways, investigators said.

Colin Gray knew his son was obsessed with school shooters, even having a shrine in his bedroom to Nikolas Cruz, the shooter in the 2018 massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, prosecutors said.

“It wasn’t like one parent missed one warning,” Smith told reporters, according to the outlet. “This was multiple warnings over a lengthy period of time and, like we said, you just had to do one thing — take that rifle away, and this would have been prevented.”

The AP said Jennifer and James Crumbley — the first U.S. parents held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting committed by a child — are serving 10-year prison terms for involuntary manslaughter after their son Ethan killed four students and wounded others in Michigan in 2021.

The outlet added that Colin Gray was the first such parent to be charged in Georgia.

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