NORTH CAROLINA — Former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper has entered the U.S. Senate race for the seat being vacated by Republican Senator Thom Tillis. Republican Michael Whatley is running against Roy Cooper for the U.S. Senate seat.

Mr. Whatley previously served as chair of the Republican National Committee. Democratic candidates have not won a U.S. presidential race in North Carolina since 2008, nor have they won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 2008.

Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election in North Carolina by 3.2 percentage points. However, Democratic candidates have won the North Carolina gubernatorial election in each of the past three presidential cycles. In the 2024 North Carolina gubernatorial race, Democrat Josh Stein won by 14 percentage points over Republican nominee Mark Robinson.

North Carolina's population reached 11.2 million in 2025, making it the ninth-largest state. The state added approximately 757,000 residents between April 2020 and 2025. From July 2024 to July 2025, North Carolina ranked first nationally for domestic migration, gaining approximately 84,000 residents.

Christopher Cooper, a political scientist, said, "It is in North Carolina's DNA, just split tickets in a way it isn't the same in other states." He said, "Where the rest of the South went from overwhelmingly Democratic to overwhelmingly Republican—and then some states, like Virginia and Georgia, came back—North Carolina was never as Democratic as its Southern neighbors." Cooper added, "Senate control could come down to North Carolina." He said, "A Senate race becomes about party control almost immediately."

Eric Heberlig, also a political scientist, noted that "North Carolinians may have voted for Roy Cooper as governor, but they have rejected Democrats running for president and the Senate because they often are not as wanting of the national Democratic agenda." Heberlig said, "The question Republicans will frame this as is not whether voters liked Roy Cooper as governor. It is whether they want another Democrat helping Chuck Schumer control the Senate."

Michael Bitzer, a political scientist, said, "North Carolina Democrats have won federal elections when they've made the race about North Carolina. Republicans win when they make it about national Democrats." Bitzer said, "That tension is the whole ballgame in 2026." Christopher Cooper stated, "Even in North Carolina, a Senate candidate cannot fully escape Washington because Washington is the job."