Former Gov. Roy Cooper Jumps Into North Carolina's U.S. Senate Race

5 months ago 11

ARTICLE AD BOX

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared his candidacy for a U.S. Senate seat in the state, giving Democrats their top recruit in one of the marquee Senate races of 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 wrote in a post Monday on social media, alongside a video outlining the policies underpinning his bid.

Cooper, who served four terms as attorney general and two terms as governor, is popular in the state and Senate Democrats aggressively pitched him on running.

The seat is held by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who announced his retirement earlier this summer after saying he could not support the Medicaid cuts included in the GOP’s massive domestic policy legislation, a step that drew condemnation from President Donald Trump.

20 Years OfFreeJournalism

Your Support Fuels Our Mission

For two decades, HuffPost has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can't do this without you.

We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.

Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.

We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.

Support HuffPost

Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

Trump is now backing Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley for the seat. Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, considered running but decided not to mount a bid.

Read Entire Article