Former two-term Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper is running for the Senate in battleground North Carolina.
Cooper announced his candidacy on Monday morning in the open-seat race to succeed Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who announced late last month that he wouldn’t run for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections.
“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,” Cooper said in a social media post.
Cooper’s campaign launch is seen as a major win for the Democrat Party, as he was the party’s top recruit in next year’s elections, bolstering their chances of flipping a key GOP-held seat as they try to take a big bite out of the Republicans’ 53-47 Senate majority.
Last week, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley entered the Senaterace in North Carolina to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R), a source familiar confirmed to The Hill.
The development comes after former RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, was openly considering a bid for the seat. Politico first reported that she has decided against a run.
But in a statement on Thursday, Lara Trump said “after much consideration and heartfelt discussions with my family, friends, and supporters, I have decided not to pursue the United States Senate seat in North Carolina at this time.”
President Donald Trump, whose endorsements in Republican primaries are extremely powerful, on Thursday gave Whatley his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
“Mike would make an unbelievable Senator from North Carolina. He is fantastic at everything he does, and he was certainly great at the RNC,” Trump added, in a social media post.
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