RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) β Former DemocraticΒ Gov. Roy CooperΒ and ex-Republican National Committee ChairmanΒ Michael WhatleyΒ each won their partyβs U.S. Senate nominations in North Carolina on Tuesday, setting them up for a fall campaign that could determine control of Congress’ upper chamber.
Whatley and Cooper are seeking the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who chose last June not to seek a third term. The two announced their campaigns weeks later and easily won their respectiveΒ primary electionsΒ over crowded fields.
Cooperβs candidacy brought optimism to DemocratsΒ aiming to take back the SenateΒ this year with a net gain of four seats. Whatley, who is also a former state Republican chairman, entered the race when President Donald Trump endorsed him after Lara Trump, the presidentβs daughter-in-law, declined to run.
North Carolina, a traditional battleground where Democrats have been able toΒ hold the governorβs seatΒ even as voters helpedΒ send TrumpΒ to the White House, was one of three states kicking off this yearβs midterm elections, along with Texas and Arkansas. Tuesdayβs slate of primaries came against the backdrop of the U.S. and Israel attack on Iran, which began over the weekend.
Whatβs at stake
North Carolinaβs election this year could be crucial for determining which party controls the U.S. Senate, where Republicans currently have the majority. The seat is open becauseΒ Tillis decided to retireΒ after clashing with Trump and the president threatened to support a primary challenger. Political experts say a typhoon of outside money could make the race the most expensive Senate campaigns in U.S. history, perhaps reaching $1 billion.
Many Democrats see Cooper, who served two terms as governor and has been successful in state politics for decades, as the partyβs best shot at victory. Democrats think their most likely path to regaining the Senate majority includes winning in North Carolina, Maine, Alaska and Ohio.
Whatley promises to keep pushing Trumpβs agenda if elected, one that he says has cut taxes and spending and restored U.S. military might.
βHis leadership has changed our country, and I am proud to stand with him in the fight to secure our border, to strengthen our economy, and put America first,β Whatley said while giving his nomination acceptance speech in Charlotte.
Moments later in his own speech in Raleigh, Cooper said inflation and health care cuts caused by Republican policies are hurting North Carolina residents.
βThese are not ordinary times. Everyday people are being left behind,β Cooper said. βAnd we see the chaos thatβs coming out of Washington only making it worse.β
Voters weigh in
Some primary voters say Congress needs Democratic control as a counterweight to Trump and what they consider disastrous policies.
βI just think weβre not headed in the right direction as a country, so I needed to express that opinion,β said Shailendra Prakash, 65, of Raleigh, an unaffiliated voter who chose to vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday and picked Cooper. βMy hope is that it needs to flip.β
Republican voter Lisa Weaver, 64, of Apex, said she was picking Whatley because as the former RNC chairman, βheβs in tune with the issues that we care most aboutβ and would assist the president.
βItβs not that I love everything that Trump does, but I do believe in the framework that he is offering for our country,β Weaver said.
Cooper and Whatley already campaigning against each other
A Democrat hasnβt won a Senate race inΒ North Carolina since 2008.Β Meanwhile, Cooper, 68, hasnβt lost a North Carolina election going back to first running for the state House in the mid-1980s, leading to 16 years as attorney general and eight as governor through 2024.
Whatley, 57, previously worked in President George W. Bushβs administration, for then-North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole and as an energy lobbyist.
Whatley, Trump and other Republicans have blistered Cooper on criminal justice matters, accusing him of promoting soft-on-crime policies while governor. Theyβve repeatedly highlighted last Augustβs fatal stabbing ofΒ Ukrainian refugee Iryna ZarutskaΒ on a Charlotte light-rail train. Trump identified Zarutskaβs mother in attendance at last weekβs State of the Union address.
The fall election will be βa choice between a conservative champion for North Carolina, who will be an ally for President Trump in the Senate, or a champion for the failed policies of the left,β Whatley said Tuesday night.
Cooper told reporters recently that his career is about βprosecuting violent criminals and keeping thousands of them behind bars.β
In turn, Cooper and his allies have centered campaign attacks on Whatleyβs allegiance to the president and to his past lobbying, with Cooper calling him an “out-of-touch D.C. insider.β
Repeating recent comments, Cooper said Tuesday night that if elected he would be a βstrong, independent senator who will work with this president when I can and stand up to him when the people need me to.β
Tuesdayβs election also included primary elections in all but one of North Carolinaβs U.S. House districts. They include a five-candidate Republican primary in the northeastern 1st Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Don Davis, who faced no primary opposition.
The Republican-controlled General Assembly created last fall a more right-leaning 1st District to join Trumpβs multistateΒ redistricting campaignΒ ahead of the 2026 elections to retain the House. Davis won in 2024 by less than 2 percentage points.
