{"id":2467580,"date":"2025-07-28T08:24:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T12:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/roy-cooper-jumps-into-north-carolina-senate-race-to-flip-gop-seat\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T08:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T12:25:11","slug":"roy-cooper-jumps-into-north-carolina-senate-race-to-flip-gop-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/roy-cooper-jumps-into-north-carolina-senate-race-to-flip-gop-seat\/","title":{"rendered":"Roy Cooper jumps into North Carolina Senate race to flip GOP seat"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Froy-cooper-jumps-into-north-carolina-senate-race-to-flip-gop-seat%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2467580&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat in the 2026 election, aiming to succeed retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis. Cooper, a two-term governor known for his pragmatic leadership and focus on medicaid expansion and education, brings strong name recognition and a track record of winning in a politically mixed state. His entry offers Democrats a notable chance to flip a Senate seat in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/huge-sidney-powell-witness-whom-ny-times-described-as-always-the-smartest-person-in-the-room-concludes-hundreds-of-thousands-of-votes-transferred-from-trump-to-biden-in-all-battleground-states\/\" title=\"HUGE! Sidney Powell Witness Whom NY Times Described as &quot;Always the Smartest Person in the Room&quot; Concludes Hundreds of Thousands of Votes Transferred from Trump to Biden IN ALL BATTLEGROUND STATES\">key battleground state<\/a>.Cooper is expected to face Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who has secured former President Donald Trump&#8217;s endorsement. The race is anticipated to be highly competitive and costly, wiht major implications for control of the Senate. North Carolina remains a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pollsters-admit-major-errors-in-2020-egregiously-undercounted-gop-support\/\" title=\"Pollsters Admit \u2018Major Errors\u2019 In 2020, \u2018Egregiously\u2019 Undercounted ... Support\">closely divided state<\/a> with a growing number of unaffiliated voters, making this Senate contest a crucial and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >closely watched battle<\/a> for both parties.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Roy Cooper enters North Carolina Senate race, setting up 2026 showdown<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2182176\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former North Carolina <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/roy-cooper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Gov. Roy Cooper\">Gov. Roy Cooper<\/a> launched his campaign for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"U.S. Senate\">U.S. Senate<\/a> on Monday, setting up a high-stakes battle in one of the nation&rsquo;s most competitive states and giving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Democrats\">Democrats<\/a> a marquee contender in their push to retake the majority.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper, a two-term governor who left office in January, enters the race to succeed retiring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/thom-tillis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) \">Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) <\/a>with strong name recognition, statewide infrastructure, and a record of winning tough races in a state that has trended red at the federal level. His candidacy immediately reshapes the 2026 Senate map, offering Democrats a rare pickup opportunity in a cycle in which they are largely on defense.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/3482617\/mike-johnson-rule-problem-anarchy-house-precedent\/\">Mike Johnson&#8217;s rule problem: Republicans lament &lsquo;anarchy&rsquo; in House as precedent erodes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3483106\/watch-live-trump-speaks-with-uk-prime-minister-keir-starmer-in-scotland\/\">WATCH LIVE: Trump speaks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3482256\/trump-podcast-bros-shaking-up-politics-press\/\">Band of Bros: Trump&#8217;s podcast manosphere is shaking up politics and the press<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve thought on it and prayed about it, and I&rsquo;ve decided I want to serve as your next United States senator, because even now, I still believe our best days are ahead of us,&rdquo; Cooper said in a campaign launch video. &ldquo;I love North Carolina, and I know you do, too.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I have thought on it and prayed about it, and I have decided: I am running to be the next U.S. Senator from North Carolina. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jXvuioO1T0\">pic.twitter.com\/jXvuioO1T0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Roy Cooper (@RoyCooperNC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RoyCooperNC\/status\/1949801503801155964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>During his time in office, Cooper earned a reputation as a pragmatic, steady-handed leader. He focused on expanding Medicaid, boosting education funding, and blocking GOP-led legislation, often clashing with the Republican legislature. Despite the state&rsquo;s conservative tilt, Cooper remained popular and won reelection in 2020 even as Trump carried North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>The race is expected to pit Cooper against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3481876\/north-carolina-senate-race-showdown-cooper-whatley-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"&ldquo;complete and total endorsement.&rdquo;\">Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley<\/a>, who has secured President Donald Trump&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/114911072057863888\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"&ldquo;complete and total endorsement.&rdquo;\">&ldquo;complete and total endorsement.&rdquo;<\/a> Whatley is preparing his own campaign and is widely viewed as the GOP front-runner following&nbsp;the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-taking-regeneron-drug-remdesivir-therapy-for-coronavirus-diagnosis-ex-wh-doctor-explains\/\" title=\"Trump taking Regeneron drug, Remdesivir therapy for coronavirus diagnosis: ex-WH doctor explains\">president&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s daughter-in-law Lara Trump&rsquo;s decision not to run.<\/p>\n<p>National Democrats praised Cooper&rsquo;s entry, calling him one of the party&rsquo;s strongest recruits of the cycle. Republicans, however, were quick to criticize Cooper. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Roy Cooper is a Democrat lapdog who spent his time as Governor sabotaging President Trump, doing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris&rsquo; bidding, releasing violent illegal aliens into North Carolina streets, and championing radical transgender ideology,&rdquo;&nbsp;said National Republican Senatorial Committee Communications Director Joanna Rodriguez.<\/p>\n<p>Cooper is expected to face a primary challenge from former Rep. Wiley Nickel, but Democratic operatives anticipate the party will quickly consolidate around the former governor.<\/p>\n<p>The contest is expected to be one of the most expensive and closely watched of 2026, with control of the Senate possibly hinging on the outcome. Democrats see Cooper&rsquo;s candidacy as a chance to break Republicans&rsquo; recent winning streak in North Carolina Senate races, in which the GOP has prevailed in seven of the last eight contests.<\/p>\n<p>First elected in 2014, Tillis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3457548\/thom-tillis-announces-retirement-opposing-trump-tax-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"delivered a fiery floor speech \">delivered a fiery floor speech <\/a>last month denouncing Trump&rsquo;s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, warning that its deep Medicaid cuts would &ldquo;betray the promise Donald Trump made&rdquo; to voters. He was one of just two Republicans to vote against the bill, a defiant stand that drew an immediate backlash from Trump, who threatened to back a primary opponent. Less than 24 hours later, Tillis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3457548\/thom-tillis-announces-retirement-opposing-trump-tax-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"announced he would not run\">announced he would not run<\/a> for reelection.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3481876\/north-carolina-senate-race-showdown-cooper-whatley-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"><strong>NORTH CAROLINA SENATE SHOWDOWN &lsquo;A TRUE TOSS-UP&rsquo; AS ROY COOPER AND MICHAEL WHATLEY INCH CLOSER TO 2026 BIDS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>North Carolina has consistently ranked among the nation&rsquo;s most competitive states. In 2024, Trump won it by just over 3 points, continuing a streak of razor-thin margins. The Senate races have been no different: Tillis edged out Democrat Cal Cunningham by fewer than 2 points in 2020, while Ted Budd defeated Cheri Beasley by about 3 points in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>With unaffiliated voters now surpassing both Democrats and Republicans in registration, the state remains one of the most politically balanced and pivotal battlegrounds on the map. <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2182176\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2182176\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Roy Cooper joins NC Senate race, sparking 2026 battle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2467581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AP24358843690251.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[60064,53129,35541,34723],"class_list":["post-2467580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-gop-seat","tag-north-carolina-senate","tag-roy-cooper","tag-senate-race"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AP24358843690251.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2467580"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2467584,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467580\/revisions\/2467584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2467581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2467580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2467580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2467580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}