North Carolina Republicans are hard-pressed to find anything negative to say about Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper, the former governor who has a 51.5% approval rating in the state and holds an 11 percentage point lead over former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley in polls. They’re so desperate, in fact, they’re resorting to fabrication.
On Aug. 5, the Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee (PAC) that works to elect Republicans to Congress, published a video depicting Ronald Hayes, whose son Shemar was killed by a gunman in March 2024.
The ad says Cooper allowed 3,500 inmates in North Carolina prisons to be released early, leading the viewer to make the connection that the man who killed Hayes’ son was one
of them.
“Is my son going to get a second chance?” Hayes asks the screen. “No, he’s never coming back.”
Roy Cooper attack ad is riddled with misinformation
But according to a recent interview in the Greensboro News & Record, the ad fudges the facts and uses a grieving father to create a false story to attack the Democratic Senate candidate. Hayes is even a Democrat who had previously voted for Cooper.
“I wanted to keep my son’s name alive and relevant,” Hayes told the News & Record. “I got nothing against Mr. Cooper.”
According to a representative from the Senate Leadership Fund, Hayes signed a waiver and was aware of the way his information would be used against the former governor.
But that wasn't the only concern with this ad. The video is set up in a way that makes it seem like the man who killed Hayes' son is back on the streets, but this isn't true. Cooper’s decision to release 3,500 nonviolent offenders was part of a 2021 settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina after the nonprofit sued the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was four years before Tyzavian Smith, 19, pleaded guilty to murder in the death of Shemar Hayes, 23, a college football player.
This is politics at its ugliest. When PACs put out factually incorrect information to prove to viewers that one candidate is better than another, we all lose.
The Senate Leadership Fund should not have released a misleading ad that used one man’s attempt to keep his son’s name alive to spread misinformation about its opponent.
Republicans have a history of this in North Carolina
This is not the first time that Republicans have stretched the truth to make Cooper appear weak on crime.
In August, a different ad featuring a father talking about the death of his daughter made it appear as though the killer was one of the 3,500 people released in 2021. The only problem? The killing happened in South Carolina – not North Carolina.
Republicans also tried to blame Cooper for the death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in 2025, saying that the accused killer was one of the 3,500 people released as part of the settlement. While DeCarlos Brown was featured on a list of people released that was leaked to Fox News, he had completed his sentence by the time the settlement was agreed to.
It’s not surprising that Republicans could be both loud and wrong about their opponent’s record on crime. The party is so desperate for a win against Cooper, a well-liked former governor who has a good shot of winning the midterm election in November, that they would use other people’s pain to paint a picture that is easily disproven by the media or anyone with internet access.
There is also some irony in Whatley’s team trying to play as though they are the ones who will be tough on crime, when the Democrats have been highlighting the fact that the former GOP leader has repeatedly allowed a convicted sex offender to participate in events associated with the North Carolina Republican Party.
I get that Republicans are hard-pressed to find things to make North Carolinians dislike Cooper, but stretching the truth and obscuring their own history is a bad look. I hope that all North Carolinians consider what it means for the Republican Party to stoop to this level, and whether it really represents what they want for their state.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Sara Pequeño on Bluesky: @sarapequeno.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: North Carolina loves Roy Cooper. All GOP has is misinformation. | Opinion
