Former Gov. Roy Cooper plans to enter North Carolina Senate race
Axios, which broke the news of Cooper's expected bid, reported that he is expected to officially enter the race next week, according to multiple sources.
Morgan Jackson, Cooper's top political advisor, would not confirm Cooper's plans but said that the former governor would share more about his plans in the coming days. Cooper is also listed as a speaker at the North Carolina Democratic Party's 'Unity Dinner' on Saturday.
Democrats have long touted Cooper, 68, as a formidable candidate, given his record of winning statewide races in the perennial battleground state.
'North Carolina is one of the most competitive races in the country and Roy Cooper would be a force to be reckoned with if he enters the field,' said Lauren French, a spokesperson for Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Former Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel launched a Senate bid in April, but it's not clear if he'll stay in the race if Cooper jumps in. Nickel told Spectrum News, 'We'll cross that bridge when we get there,' when asked about the prospect that Cooper could run for Senate.
Cooper was first elected governor in 2016 after serving four terms as the state's attorney general. He defeated the Republican governor at the time, Pat McCrory, by around 10,000 votes even as President Donald Trump won the state by nearly 4 points. Cooper won a second term in 2020 by 4 points while Trump again carried North Carolina by 1 point. Term limits barred Cooper from running for a third term last year.
Democrats all but have to win North Carolina to have any hope of netting the four seats they need to take control of the Senate next year, with Republicans defending a 53-47 majority.
North Carolina and Maine are Democrats' two best pickup opportunities, with former Vice President Kamala Harris carrying Maine last year and losing North Carolina by 3 percentage points. After those two states, Democrats would have to flip two more that Trump won by double digits, while also holding onto their own seats in competitive states.
The Republican field in North Carolina is in flux after Sen. Thom Tillis' surprise announcement that he would not seek re-election. Tillis had drawn Trump's ire for opposing the party's sweeping tax and spending bill, warning that cuts to Medicaid would harm North Carolinians.
Republicans are watching to see if Lara Trump — the president's daughter-in-law, former Republican National Committee co-chair and current Fox News host — could run for the seat. She recently told NBC News that she plans to decide on a Senate campaign by Thanksgiving, noting the decision is especially weighty because of her young family.
Other potential GOP candidates include current RNC chair Michael Whatley, who previously led the state party in North Carolina, as well as Republican Reps. Pat Harrigan and Greg Murphy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
New poll shows astonishing outcome in fantasy 2028 match-up between Obama and Trump
A new poll reveals who would win in a fantasy match-up between President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama for president if they both ran for a third term. A new exclusive Daily Mail/J.L. Partners poll shows that Obama would win in a theoretical matchup. Of the respondents, 52 percent chose the former Democratic president and 41 percent chose Trump. Obama's 11-point majority over Trump stems from an enthusiastic Hispanic base, of which 73 percent selected Obama, and also 68 percent of black voters. Independent voters also preferred Obama over Trump in the hypothetical match, 50 percent for the former Democrat to just 39 percent for Trump. Past American presidents sometimes benefit from nostalgia over a president currently serving in office. Obama currently enjoys a 59 percent favorability rating while just 35 percent viewed him unfavorably. That's compared to Trump's 44 percent favorability mark. According to the exclusive poll, Trump has a 49 percent overall approval rating for his job performance as president, while 51 percent have an unfavorable view. The poll also shows that Trump would still beat Hillary Clinton if she ran for president again with 44 percent support over Clinton's 43 percent. Trump would also beat former President Joe Biden with 44 percent versus just 40 percent support for Biden. American presidents are prevented from running for a third term, after the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was passed and ratified in 1951. Trump has teased the idea in interviews, although he has conceded he is not yet planning on running for a third term. 'I'm not joking,' Trump told NBC in March, when asked to clarify his comments on the idea. 'But I'm not — it is far too early to think about it.' When asked about how he would do so, Trump said cryptically, 'There are methods which you could do it.' He also said he would 'love' to run against Obama. 'I'd love that …. That would be a good one,' he said to Fox News reporter Peter Doocy in March. 'I'd like that. And no, people are asking me to run, and there's a whole story about running for a third term. I don't know, I never looked into it. They do say there's a way you can do it, but I don't know about that.' Trump supporters have mused on a possible loophole in the law, if Vice President JD Vance won a presidential race in 2028 with Trump as his running mate. Theoretically, a President Vance could swear in as president and then resign, allowing a vice president Trump to ascend back into power. Obama also joked about the idea of a third term as his second term was coming to a close. 'I actually think I'm a pretty good president. I think if I ran, I could win,' Obama joked during a 2015 speech in Ethiopia. 'There's a lot that I'd like to do to keep America moving. But the law is the law, and no person is above the law, not even the president.' In 2020, Obama also joked that he would be fine with a 'stand-in' president where 'they had an earpiece' and he could control them. "You know what? If I could make an arrangement where I had a stand-in, a front man or front woman, and they had an earpiece in and I was just in my basement in my sweats looking through the stuff, and then I could sort of deliver the lines, but somebody else was doing all the talking and ceremony, I'd be fine with that,' he joked in an interview with Stephen Colbert. The poll was conducted July 9 - July 10 among 1,013 registered voters. It has a 3.1 percent margin of error.
Reuters
5 minutes ago
- Reuters
US, China finish talks in Stockholm as tariff truce holds for now
STOCKHOLM, July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. and Chinese officials finished two days of talks in Stockholm on Tuesday that were aimed at tackling longstanding economic disputes and stepping back from an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies. While announcing no breakthroughs, China's top trade negotiator Li Chenggang said the two sides agreed to push for an extension of a 90-day tariff truce struck in mid-May, without specifying when and for how long such an extension could come into force. The talks could pave the way for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the year, though Trump denied going out of his way to seek one and Chinese officials did not mention it. After months of threatening high tariffs on trading partners, Trump has secured trade deals with the European Union, Japan, and others, but China's powerhouse economy and grip on global rare earth flows make these talks particularly complex. Both sides in May walked back from imposing triple-digit tariffs on each other in what would have amounted to a bilateral trade embargo. But global supply chains and financial markets could face renewed turmoil without an agreement. Underlining the stakes, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised its global growth forecast but flagged a potential rebound in tariff rates as a major risk.
Reuters
5 minutes ago
- Reuters
FEMA to require states use terrorism prevention funds for migrant arrests
WASHINGTON, July 29 (Reuters) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency will require states to spend part of their federal terrorism prevention funds on helping the Trump administration arrest migrants, as part of the U.S. president's transformation of the agency. This is latest example of the Trump administration tying its goal to arrest migrants to federal funding for states. States must spend at least 10% of their funds from the Homeland Security Grant Program on enforcing immigration laws 'against all inadmissible and removable aliens,' according to an agency announcement. They can use it for tasks that support President Donald Trump's executive order, opens new tab on immigration, including to construct detention facilities or set up partnerships between police officers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the post. States have until Aug. 11 to apply for their portion of $373.3 million, according to the post. Congress established the Homeland Security Grant Program before Trump took office to help states prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks. All 50 states receive the funds annually. In the past, they have used the money to buy security cameras, firefighting foam equipment and computers, among other needs, according to statements from state officials. Reuters asked the White House press office whether Congress intended the funds be spent on migrant arrests. The office referred Reuters to FEMA.
