RALEIGH, N.C. — President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday, endorsing Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley and promoting his signature tax legislation, which he calls "the one big beautiful bill." The event came as the rate of inflation continued to climb according to the latest numbers released that same day.

Whatley, a former national party chairman and former lobbyist, is competing for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican incumbent Thom Tillis. Republicans have described the tax legislation as a "working families tax cut," though the measure does not entirely eliminate federal levies on overtime.

"I don't know about you, but I sure trust you to spend your money better than a federal government in D.C.," Whatley said at the rally. Whatley is seeking his first elected office after serving as a longtime party leader.

His Democratic opponent, former Governor Roy Cooper, has built his campaign around what Democrats call the "affordability crisis," emphasizing health care costs and Republicans' refusal to extend expanded subsidies for Affordable Care Act premiums. Cooper and other Democrats have also pointed to housing and utility prices, hikes on consumer goods affected by Trump's tariffs, and ripple effects from the war with Iran on fuel, fertilizer and grocery costs.

"It seems like everything that Washington is doing is driving up costs across the board," Cooper said. Democrats have long struggled to win Senate seats in North Carolina, though Cooper has won six statewide elections there, including two gubernatorial contests in cycles when Trump carried the state. During his second term as governor, he convinced the Republican-run Legislature to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and he has criticized Republicans' refusal to extend pandemic-era subsidies for private insurance plans. To win his Senate race, Cooper needs to energize apathetic voters, including some Democrats.

The midterm elections will determine control of Congress during the final two years of Trump's second presidential term. President Joe Biden and his party had previously faced blame for inflation, which Trump capitalized on in his comeback campaign, but now Republicans bear voters' economic dissatisfaction. Democrats believe that dissatisfaction gives them a chance to win full control of Congress, with Iowa and Texas also potentially competitive Senate races this year. Republicans currently hold a larger margin in the U.S. Senate than in the U.S. House.