Roy Cooper to Enter North Carolina Senate Race, Lifting Democrats

Roy Cooper, the Democratic former governor of North Carolina, is planning to announce a run for Senate as early as next week, giving Democrats a significant boost in one of the key races of 2026, according to two people briefed on the decision.

Mr. Cooper, as a popular former governor, has been a top Democratic Party recruit even before the incumbent Republican, Senator Thom Tillis, announced last month that he would retire at the end of his term.

Mr. Cooper had appeared inclined to run in recent weeks, and his plans to announce were first reported by Axios.

Morgan Jackson, an adviser to Mr. Cooper, declined to confirm that report but said the former governor would make his intentions known “in the coming days.”

The open North Carolina Senate seat is essential for Democrats if the party is to have any chance to take control of the chamber after the 2026 midterms. Party leaders had pushed for Mr. Cooper to enter the race even as former Representative Wiley Nickel had already announced his candidacy.

Last year, Mr. Cooper was briefly vetted to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, extricating himself from that process before he could be interviewed. When his term ended as governor, he teased the idea of a Senate run in a “farewell address” to the state.

“I’m not done,” he said in December.

On the Republican side, one possible candidate is Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, though she has passed on Senate runs before. Others include Michael Whatley, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, and members of the state’s congressional delegation.

Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate, and Vice President JD Vance is able to provide a tiebreaking vote for their party, meaning Democrats must flip at least four seats to take control of the chamber.