North Carolina’s pivotal 2026 U.S. Senate matchup is set, the Associated Press has projected, with former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and former state and national GOP Chairman Michael Whatley easily sewing up their parties’ nominations in unofficial results Tuesday.
Cooper secured the Democratic nomination in a victory that was anticipated since he declared his candidacy in July. The two-term governor still enjoys broad popularity in the state and has won every election he competed in over nearly 40 years of public service, making him a formidable candidate in November.
The Associated Press calls often races shortly after polls close through careful analysis of vote tallies and where outstanding ballots remain. If they determine that the leading candidate cannot catch up through the remaining votes, they project a winner in the race.
Whatley faced a closer race than Cooper, but it still appeared to be a primary landslide. Opponent Don Brown garnered a double-digit share of the vote early in the evening, but Whatley prevailed with the backing of President Donald Trump, who endorsed him in July. A key supporter of Trump in the past three presidential elections, Whatley chaired the North Carolina Republican Party from 2019 to 2024 before heading up the RNC during the 2024 election and most of Trump’s first year in office.
With 49% of the vote reported, none of Cooper’s closest opponents had received more than 5% of the vote. Other Democrats in the race were Daryl Farrow, Justin E. Dues, Robert Colon, Marcus W. Williams and pastor Orrick Quick. Whatley’s other challengers were Michele Morrow, Richard Dansie, Elizabeth Temple, Thomas Johnson, and Margot Dupre.
As a key battleground in the fight for congressional control in the 2026 midterm elections, North Carolina is expected to host one of the most expensive Senate elections in history.
Because both nominees were clear frontrunners throughout the primary campaign, much of it was spent lobbing early attacks at one another rather than at their primary challengers.
Republicans have sought to paint Cooper as soft on crime and immigration, with the killing of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte featuring heavily in attack ads. They’ve also tied him to figures on the far left of his party, such as New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“He’s radical left, you don’t want him,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in Rocky Mount last December.
Cooper’s argument has centered on his bipartisan success as governor in working with Republicans to pass Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, and on a promise to prioritize cost of living issues as many struggle to stay afloat.
“Right now, our country is facing a moment as fragile as any I can remember,” Cooper said in his campaign announcement. “The decisions we make in the next election will determine if we even have a middle class in America.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have called Whatley an out-of-touch Washington insider and blamed him for a sluggish Hurricane Helene relief during his time as Trump’s “recovery czar” for western North Carolina, a title his campaign has sought to disavow.
Whatley has centered his appeals on aligning himself as closely with Trump as possible — a strategy that will be put to the test during a midterm that many see as a referendum on the president’s two years since returning to office.
“Donald Trump is fighting every day for you,” Whatley told a crowd in Rocky Mount in December. “Now, we need you one more time. Because if the Democrats win the House, if the Democrats win the Senate, we are going to go right back to investigations and hoaxes and impeachments.”
The months between now and November will be a race on both sides to define Whatley, who still holds little name recognition among North Carolinians. The result will likely hinge on who can make the more persuasive case on what Whatley represents as a candidate, as well as whether Cooper can retain his moderate, bipartisan credentials in the face of blistering attacks attempting to portray him as a radical.
North Carolina’s midterm elections will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, with early voting in the second half of October.
This is a developing story and will be updated as vote totals come in.
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