Inside GOP Senate hopeful's financial ties to controversial data center boom

Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee and the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, and his family hold between $246,000 and $690,000 in energy investments with companies fueling data center growth in the Tar Heel State, according to his federal disclosure.

Those holdings raise questions about whether Whatley or his family stands to benefit from his support of data center expansion, an issue that has drawn national attention over community zoning, energy use and state growth.