Cooper claims North Carolina Senate seat with 4-year lead
The former governor defeats Michael Whatley in a race where national Democrats outspent Republicans and polls showed voters prioritized the economy over crime.
By Bianca Shevchenko ·
Democrat Roy Cooper secured North Carolina's open U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday, handing his party a key flip in the midterms. The Associated Press called the race for Cooper, marking his victory over Republican Michael Whatley. This win makes Cooper the first Democrat elected to the Senate from North Carolina since 2008.
The financial disparity defined the campaign's final stretch. National Democratic groups and Cooper significantly outspent Whatley and Republican organizations. Just weeks before the election, national GOP groups pulled their television ads from North Carolina. They redirected those funds to other battleground states, including Kansas. This spending gap left Whatley without paid media in the critical final month.
Cooper campaigned on affordability, branding his stops across the state as the "Make Stuff Cost Less" tour. He served as governor from 2017 to 2024. Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chair, focused on crime and immigration. He attacked Cooper over a legal settlement during the pandemic that released inmates from state prisons to reduce overcrowding. However, polls indicated the economy, not crime, was the top concern for voters this year.
The race was initially expected to be one of the most competitive and expensive in the country. Yet Whatley never led in polling. Cooper's lead widened as the election approached. Whatley made his first run for elected office in this contest. Cooper's team portrayed him as a lobbyist for Big Oil who would act as a rubber stamp for President Trump in the Senate.
Patrick Sebastian, a Republican strategist who was not involved in the Whatley campaign, argued the party missed a strategic opportunity. "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 noted that failing to address these topics made it difficult to connect with voters who could buy less at the grocery store due to rising prices.
President Trump and Vice President Vance held multiple rallies in North Carolina during the final weeks of the campaign. Sebastian said these visits likely helped improve base turnout for GOP voters. They were not enough to save Whatley's campaign. The seat was open after Senator Thom Tillis announced in 2025 he would not seek reelection. Tillis stepped aside after Trump threatened a primary challenger over the president's tax cut and spending bill. Tillis has since been promoting a new book that criticizes fellow Republicans.
