Cooper, Whatley to enter 26 race for the US Senate

Former North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican National Chairman Michael Whatley will be entering the race for Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat in 2026.

Multiple outlets have reported on Cooper’s intention to enter the race, potentially with a formal announcement to come Monday.

North State Journal first picked up on Cooper’s intention to run from two sources July 8 after N.C. Congressman Don Davis (D-Snow Hill) indicated he was exploring a run for the seat. In the days that followed that news, fundraising emails from Cooper started up again.

Whatley, who has the backing of President Donald Trump, has not yet made a formal announcement either, with two sources familiar with the situation confirming to North State Journal that he “is running.”

Prior to rising to chair of the Republican National Committee, Whatley was the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party.

It had been widely speculated that the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, would enter the race after Tillis announced in June that he would not seek reelection, however, in a post on X she declined to run for the seat and is said to be backing Whatley.

North Carolina Democratic Party Spokesperson Mallory Payne issued a statement after news broke of Whatley’s intended candidacy.

“Republicans just lost their ‘formidable’ and ‘first choice’ candidate for U.S. Senate, driving them further into chaos and closer to losing this seat,” Payne said. “Now, they are stuck with Michael Whatley, who gave a ringing endorsement to extremist Mark Robinson and is a staunch supporter of the cruel Medicaid cuts that gut health care for over 650,000 North Carolinians while delivering tax giveaways to billionaires — an agenda so toxic it forced Thom Tillis into retirement.”

Payne added, “Democrats will flip this seat in 2026.”

The N.C. Republican Party has yet to issue a formal statement.

Whatley, who served in the President George W. Bush’s administration in the Department of Energy and was also chief of staff for Sen. Elizabeth Dole, has never run for or held public office.

Cooper’s entry into the race upends the candidacy of former Democratic Congressman Wiley Nickel, who filed to run in late 2023 after announcing he would not seek reelection to his U.S. House seat.

Nickel has not yet commented on Cooper entering the race but did issue a post on X similar to that of the N.C. Democratic Party.

“Trump just handpicked hardline loyalist Michael Whatley, known for pushing his extreme agenda as RNC chair, to run for Senate in North Carolina,” Nickel wrote, adding Whatley would be a “rubber stamp for Trump’s every whim.”

Three 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.

The race to replace Tillis could top $1 billion, according to remarks made by political consultant Paul Shumaker in an early 2025 episode of the “Tying It Together with Tim Boynum” podcast. Shumaker told Boyum that Cooper would be under a “greater microscope” than ever before in his career and he’s “never been through a very contentious, knock-down, drag-out.”

Around $300 million was spent during Tillis’ 2020 reelection race.

In an interview with North State Journal following Shumaker’s comments, longtime political consultant Carter Wrenn said he thought a billion sounded “a little bit through the roof for statewide races.”

Wrenn said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the total come in at around double that of 2020. He said the spending will rise, including money from outside of the state, because the seat is a “huge fight” for control the Senate in 2026.

The former governor would be a formidable candidate, according to Wrenn, who said, “He’s got a unique kind of strength as a candidate. People like him.”

Cooper has lengthy political history in North Carolina, including serving in the statehouse, multiple terms as the state’s attorney general and his two terms as governor.

Controversies followed Cooper throughout his time as governor, including his administration’s  mishandling of hurricane recovery efforts for Hurricanes Matthew and Florence, which still has issues that persist to this day.

Additionally, there were “pay to play” accusations during the Atlantic Coast Pipeline negotiations. He also was criticized for his handling of the George Floyd riots in 2020 versus that of Reopen NC protests, as well as marching with George Floyd protesters around the Executive Mansion following the rioting.

Cooper also was known for his stringent COVID-19 pandemic closures, which included K-12 schools, certain bars and restaurants, and delaying testing in nursing homes.

Cooper issued a record-breaking 104 vetoes while governor, 70 of which were overridden by the Republican majority in the General Assembly.

This article was written by A. P. Dillon