Former NC Governor Cooper Wins Senate Seat

The Associated Press called North Carolina's open U.S. Senate seat for Democrat Roy Cooper on Monday. The former governor now joins the Senate as the first Democrat elected to the chamber from the state since 2008.

Cooper defeated Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chair. President Donald Trump selected Whatley to replace retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis. The race marked Whatley's first bid for elected office.

National Democratic organizations spent heavily on the contest, significantly outspending their Republican counterparts. In contrast, several national GOP groups stopped running television ads in North Carolina weeks before the vote. They redirected that funding to other battleground states, including Kansas.

Cooper built his campaign around the cost of living. He traveled the state on a tour he called 'Make Stuff Cost Less.' Whatley focused his message on crime and immigration. He attacked Cooper over a legal agreement from the pandemic era that released inmates from state prisons to manage overcrowding.

Polls showed that the economy was the top concern for voters in North Carolina this year, rather than crime. Cooper's team portrayed Whatley as a lobbyist for Big Oil who would support President Trump's agenda without question.

Patrick Sebastian, a Republican strategist who did not work on the Whatley campaign, noted that the economy was the primary issue for voters. 'Really it's the economy is Issue A and then Issue B is probably government corruption, that people are following the most,' Sebastian said. He argued that not addressing these topics made it difficult to connect with shoppers at places like Walmart.

Whatley never led in polling during the race. Cooper's lead grew as the election approached. President Trump and Vice President JD Vance visited North Carolina for multiple rallies in the final weeks. Sebastian said those trips likely helped turn out Republican voters but were not enough to change the outcome. Tillis, who announced in 2025 he would not seek reelection, has since been promoting a new book that criticizes other Republicans.