Cooper defeats Whatley in North Carolina Senate race

Democrat Roy Cooper claimed North Carolina's open U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The result provides the Democratic Party with a strategic gain in the upper chamber. Cooper becomes the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the state since 2008.

The former governor defeated Michael Whatley, who served as chair of the Republican National Committee. President Donald Trump selected Whatley to replace retiring GOP Senator Thom Tillis. The race was initially projected as one of the most expensive in the country, but financial dynamics shifted in the final weeks. National Democratic groups outspent their Republican counterparts throughout the contest.

The spending gap widened in October when national GOP organizations pulled television advertisements from North Carolina. Those groups redirected funds to other battleground states, including Kansas. Despite the exit of major party advertisements, Trump and Vice President JD Vance held multiple rallies in the state during the final weeks of the campaign. Republican strategist Patrick Sebastian, who did not work on the Whatley campaign, said those visits likely helped improve base turnout for GOP voters but were insufficient to close the gap.

Cooper centered his campaign on affordability. He promoted a statewide tour under the name "Make Stuff Cost Less." Whatley focused on crime and immigration, criticizing a legal settlement from the pandemic era that released inmates from state prisons to reduce overcrowding. However, polling data indicated that the economy was the top concern for voters in the state, rather than crime.

Cooper's team positioned Whatley, a first-time candidate, as a lobbyist for the oil industry. They argued he would act as a rubber stamp for Trump in the Senate. Sebastian noted that the Republican candidate should have prioritized the economy more heavily. "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 added that disconnecting from those issues makes it difficult to relate to shoppers who can buy less with their money due to rising prices.

The race dynamics favored Cooper from the start. Whatley never led in polling, and Cooper's lead widened as the election approached. Tillis, who announced in 2025 that he would not seek reelection after Trump threatened a primary challenge, did not actively campaign for Whatley. The retiring senator has instead promoted a new book criticizing fellow Republicans.

Cooper served as North Carolina governor from 2017 to 2024. His victory secures the seat for the Democrats and ends a period of Republican control in the state's Senate delegation.