In a historic win, former Gov. Roy Cooper has become North Carolina’s first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate since 2008. “North Carolina — I’m grateful for your trust,” Cooper posted to social media shortly after the race was called. “We have more in common than divides us. Here’s to building better days ahead!”
Moments later, Cooper took the stage in downtown Raleigh and told the crowd he spoke earlier with his Republican opponent, Michael Whatley, and that Whatley “acknowledged the victory.” “What do you say, North Carolina?” Cooper asked the crowd. “Are you ready for change? Are you ready to turn things around for hardworking people? Are you ready to meet the promise of tomorrow? So am I.”
Cooper said North Carolinians work hard, “and they shouldn’t need a lobbyist to unlock the American dream.”
“That should be the job of the people they elect to represent them,” Cooper said. “And to North Carolinians, I accept their job offer.” Cooper received 58.7% of the vote while Whatley got 39%, according to unofficial returns. Libertarian Shannon Bray got 1.33%. The Associated Press quickly called the race shortly after early and absentee ballots were released around 8:15. Cheers went out from the crowd at Cooper’s Raleigh event.
Whatley conceded to a crowd of about 100 people at 8:34 p.m. The early votes came out at 8:15 p.m.
“I wanted to let you know that I just placed a phone call into Gov. Cooper and congratulated him on his big win tonight, and my best wishes and prayers for him,” Whatley told the crowd. “I want to thank the people from across this great state who have entrusted me with their votes. While the results today are not what we’ve been working for, my dedication to you and this great state remains as strong as ever. I will never stop fighting for North Carolina.”
Corey Kelly, 36, who attended Whatley’s party and serves on the Stanley Town Council, said he wasn’t surprised by Whatley’s defeat, blaming national economic conditions and dissatisfaction with the war in Iran. “I hate to quote a Democrat, but as James Carville said, a long time ago, ‘It’s the economy, stupid,’” Kelly said. He said the election came down to concerns about “gas prices and grocery prices and access to housing,” rather than either candidate’s record. The economy is exactly what Cooper framed his campaign on, while Whatley focused on crime.
Tuesday’s election asked voters to choose a successor for Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, who dropped his reelection bid last June after publicly feuding with President Donald Trump over Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and its impact on North Carolina’s Medicaid recipients.
Tillis posted a social media message congratulating Cooper. “Congratulations to our next Senator @RoyCooperNC,“ Tillis wrote. “I look forward to working with him during the transition. Representing the Old North State in the world’s most deliberative body is an honor of a lifetime and Susan and I wish Roy and Kristin the very best in the years ahead.”
Trump had handpicked Whatley to run, but he could never quite get the foothold needed with voters.
Cooper, 69, a Democrat from Raleigh, spent nearly 40 years serving in North Carolina politics as a two-term governor, four-term attorney general and in both chambers of the state legislature.
On the campaign trail he often said he never planned to go to Washington. But Trump’s second-term as president frustrated Cooper.
Why Cooper decided to run
On Monday, The University of Virginia’s Center for Politics published its final rankings of the election cycle, saying 53 Senate seats leaned Democratic and 47 leaned Republican. Cooper had repeatedly been listed in multiple news outlets as the most likely to flip a seat.
So what made Cooper decide to run for Senate? On the campaign trail, during Cooper’s more than 400 events, he’s repeatedly told supporters it was during a church service that the verse Luke 12:48 caught his attention: “To whom much is given, much is required.”
He said he thought about how privileged he has been in life. “But you know, when I’m right down the road, I see people working in the field,” Cooper said. “I see people working up on a roof. I know how hard they are working, and I know they’re like not getting paid enough, and they’re not being treated fairly by our tax system in this country.”
He told supporters that people deserve a living wage and they deserve healthcare.
“I learned those values growing up in Eastern North Carolina, and that was a real gift to me,” Cooper would tell supporters. “And it was a gift to me to get to wake up every morning for eight years serving as governor of this state that I loved so much.”
This article appears courtesy of our media partner The Charlotte Observer. Per agreement, it has been edited only for length.
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