RALEIGH — Former Gov. Roy Cooper made official what has been speculated since his second term in the Executive Mansion ended: He’s running for U.S. Senate.
“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 Monday morning post on X with an accompanying video.
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. pic.twitter.com/jXvuioO1T0
— Roy Cooper (@RoyCooperNC) July 28, 2025
The 68-year-old Democrat will be vying for the Senate seat vacated by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who announced in late June that he would not seek reelection in 2026 for a third term in Washington.
Cooper was governor of North Carolina from 2017 until January, when his second term ended. Governors are limited to two terms in North Carolina. His run as governor came after he served 16 years as the state’s attorney general, a decade in the state Senate — where he was majority leader from 1997 to 2001 — and four years in the state House.
Since he first ran and won a seat in the General Assembly in 1987, Cooper has not lost an election.
“There is no one who loves North Carolina more than Roy Cooper,” North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said in a statement. “From expanding Medicaid for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, to working across the aisle to balance the budget and bring good-paying jobs to our state, to taking on scammers and criminals as attorney general, Governor Cooper has always put us first. Roy Cooper is one of the best champions North Carolina has ever had, and we are confident he will flip this seat in 2026.”
Governor Josh Stein issued a brief X post of support for Cooper that read, “I’ve known Roy Cooper for 25 years, and I’m proud to call him my friend. He’ll make an amazing Senator for us. Here’s one North Carolina vote he can count on next year.”
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) wrote in a post on X that Cooper is “attempting to rewrite his record. He consistently opposed balanced budgets and vetoed teacher pay raises when they didn’t include his radical, far-left policies.”
Berger went on to criticize Cooper for failing to stand up for women and girls and for promoting “the interests of criminal illegal aliens over the safety of our citizens.”
“And when North Carolina citizens needed him to step up during Hurricanes Matthew, Florence, and Helene, he bogged them down with bureaucratic red tape and left them homeless,” continued Berger. “He’ll be nothing more than a rubber stamp on left-wing pipe dreams cooked up by politicians like Chuck Schumer.”
North State Journal’s A.P. Dillon reported July 8 on X that Cooper, a Nash County native, was expected to enter the race.
Hearing from a few sources today that former Gov. Roy Cooper will be getting in the #ncsen race.
One source says NC Atty Gen. Jeff Jackson spilled the beans at a recent event; said he was planning on endorsing Cooper. #ncpol— A.P. Dillon (@APDillon_) July 8, 2025
The former governor’s decision sets the stage for what could be the most expensive Senate race in American history. Former U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel had been the only Democrat to enter the race, while President Donald Trump has backed Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley to be his party’s nominee.
Three other Republicans have filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission for the seat: Triad area businessman Andy Nilsson, attorney and former JAG Officer Don Brown and Brooks Agnew, an author and former manufacturing engineer.
But a Cooper-vs.-Whatley matchup seems inevitable.
Whatley — a Watauga County native who led the North Carolina Republican Party until Trump tapped him to run the RNC with the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump — has never held public office. Lara Trump, who is married to Eric Trump, was the president’s top choice to succeed Tillis, but the Wilmington native — who no longer lives in the state — announced last week she would not run.
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.
I am deeply grateful for the encouragement and support I have received from the people of my… pic.twitter.com/zL3I8fFzO6
— Lara Trump (@LaraLeaTrump) July 24, 2025
Political consultant Paul Shumaker has speculated the North Carolina race could exceed $1 billion as Democrats try to wrestle control of the Senate back from Republicans, who have majorities in both houses of Congress.
Carter Wrenn, a longtime Republican political consultant, told North State Journal in February that Cooper would be a formidable candidate for Democrats.
“He’s got a unique kind of strength as a candidate,” Wrenn said. “People like him.”
Republicans, meanwhile, are already on the offensive in trying to discredit Cooper.
“Roy Cooper can run, but he can’t hide from his 40-year radical record,” North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Jason Simmons said in a two-part statement on X. “From raising taxes, closing schools, pardoning violent criminals, and failing during hurricane recovery, he has consistently sided with left-wing interests over families and small businesses.
“He will do everything he can to work against President Trump in the U.S. Senate. We won’t let that happen and we will keep this seat for Republicans in 2026.”
The Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican Super PAC, launched RadicalRoy.com — a website that accuses Cooper of “woke” politics, weakness on crime and immigration, and higher taxes for citizens and small businesses.
“Roy Cooper spent decades dragging North Carolina left and now he wants to do the same to America,” U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) said on X.
In a fundraising email, Gov. Josh Stein — who succeeded Cooper both as attorney general and governor — pledged his support to his predecessor.
“I could not be more ready to support him. … I am proud to call Gov. Cooper a friend, and grateful for the lifetime of service he’s already given to North Carolina,” Stein said.
A.P. Dillon contributed to this report.
This article has been updated to include additional statements and reactions.
