Latest news with #JoshStein
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Gov. Roy Cooper may announce plans to run for Senate
RALEIGH, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS/WGHP) — Former governor Roy Cooper could soon confirm speculation that he'll make a return to public office. An advisor for Cooper told QCN that, 'he would be making his intentions known in the coming days' whether he would announce a run for the U.S. Senate. The 5 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2026 North Carolina will have an opening in Congress in 2026, as senior Sen. Thom Tillis announced earlier this month that he would not seek a third term. The Republican's announcement came amid the passage of President Donald Trump's megabill, with aspects of which he would not support. As his time as governor wound down last year, Cooper was presented as a possible running mate for Kamala Harris in 2024, but ultimately that position went to Governor Tim Walz. Cooper accepted a faculty position with Harvard University, but still introduced Harris as the presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention. Gov. Josh Stein, who served as attorney general under Cooper, commented on the rumblings of his predecessor. 'I worked for Roy Cooper when he was attorney general for eight years. … I think the world of Roy Cooper, I think he is an amazing person as well as public official,' he said. 'So there is one North Carolina voter who would be thrilled to be able to cast his vote for him, as Roy Cooper's decision to make. We'll see what he does.' Cooper is scheduled to speak at a dinner hosted by the North Carolina Democrats in Raleigh Saturday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Governor Roy Cooper expected to announce 2026 Senate bid
RALEIGH, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Roy Cooper, North Carolina's 75th governor, is expected to seek a new office with a 2026 U.S. Senate bid. An advisor for Cooper tells Queen City News a formal announcement could come as soon as next week. RELATED: Former Gov. Roy Cooper may announce plans to run for Senate Governor Josh Stein is already offering his support. 'I worked for Roy Cooper when he was attorney general for eight years. I think he is an amazing person as well as public official. So there is one North Carolina voter who would be thrilled to be able to cast his vote for him. As it's Roy Cooper's decision to make, we'll see what he does,' Governor Stein said. Cooper would seek the seat Republican Senator Thom Tillis is leaving. Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper says the race is expected to be the most competitive and expensive Senate battle of 2026. 'I think this is almost certainly going to be the most expensive Senate race in North Carolina history and possibly will be the most expensive U.S. Senate race in American history. We're going to end up with Roy Cooper, it looks like, almost certainly on the Democratic side, somebody who can probably raise $100 million. We've got, on the Republican side, names being tossed around like Lara Trump, like Michael Whatley, the current head of the RNC. We're going to be talking about big money, probably the likes of which we just haven't really seen before,' said Chris Cooper, a Western North Carolina Political Science professor. Dr. Cooper says the former governor, state attorney general, and lawmaker has the political resume to go up against republican senate hopefuls Michael Whatley or Lara Trump. But the professor doesn't believe this means North Carolina is making a full shift to being a blue state. 'So he's got a fairly high approval rating. It doesn't mean that he's universally loved by any stretch, but it does mean that he's pretty popular. He's obviously somebody who has built the kind of track record that is going to be difficult to deal with for any Republicans. So I think this truly is a toss-up seat. I think it was going to be kind of a scramble for exactly who the next candidate, who the right candidate would be,' Dr. Cooper said. Will this swing the pendulum if a Democrat is elected to the seat? 'We're a purple state here in North Carolina, but it's kind of a confusing purple state, because we're electing Democrats to a lot of these statewide offices. But for federal office, we've been voting for Republicans for president since 2008, for U.S. Senate since 2008. So, if Roy Cooper or any Democrat were to win this seat, I think it's going to just reinforce just how purple the state is and that that purple dust isn't just sort of reserved for statewide offices. It also is going to fly for some of these federal offices as well,' Dr. Cooper said. NORTH CAROLINA ELECTIONS 'My decision was not easy': Former Charlotte mayor Jennifer Roberts not running for office Charlotte city council race heats up as incumbents announce their reelection bids Council Chaos: Monroe City Council votes to replace mayor pro tem, holds no-confidence vote Wil Russell announces bid for Charlotte City Council District 4 seat — again Matthews mayor announces bid for reelection Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Former NC Gov. Roy Cooper readies to announce decision in US Senate race
North Carolina's wait for whether former Gov. Roy Cooper plans to run for Senate will soon be over. Morgan Jackson, Cooper's adviser, told McClatchy on Wednesday that 'Governor Cooper would be making his intentions known in the coming days.' Gov. Josh Stein, Cooper's successor, did not comment, while touring the Coca-Cola Consolidated bottling facility in Charlotte, on whether Cooper was running but did comment on his thoughts about him as a candidate. 'I think the world of Roy Cooper,' Stein said. 'I think he is an amazing person as well as public official. So there is one North Carolina voter who would be thrilled to be able to cast his vote for him. ' A Senate run for Cooper has been long anticipated, even as 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris mulled choosing Cooper as her running mate last summer, a decision Cooper ultimately made for her. The 2026 Senate race is expected to be one of the most expensive in the country and closely watched as the swing state of North Carolina could help determine whether Republicans maintain the majority. Axios reported Wednesday afternoon that Cooper plans to announce his run next week, attributing its story to multiple unnamed sources. Jackson told McClatchy that he would not confirm Axios' reporting. Thom Tillis not seeking a third term Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, announced he would not seek reelection for a third term. That announcement caught Republicans by surprise in June after Tillis had already been campaigning for six months. Tillis got into a feud with Republicans over President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, that fulfilled several of his campaign promises. But Tillis worried that it would cost 663,000 North Carolinians their Medicaid coverage. He said at an event in Washington Wednesday he felt so strongly about this concern that he wanted to remove his campaign as a bargaining chip in trying to get a fix to that part of the bill. Other possible Senate candidates Now Republicans are weighing names like the president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump, Michael Whatley, the chairman of the Republican National Committee or Rep. Pat Harrigan to run instead. So far, only retired JAG officer Don Brown has declared himself a candidate in the Republican primary. Filing isn't until Dec. 1. On the Democratic side, former Rep. Wiley Nickel declared he would run. Roy Cooper's political career Cooper ran in every election since the late 1980s, and unlike Nickel has faced multiple statewide races, including attorney general and governor. He has statewide name recognition that was amplified as he led North Carolina through the COVID-19 pandemic and worked with Republicans to achieve Medicaid expansion. He also served as surrogate for Harris' campaign and introduced her at the Democratic National Convention. Cooper, after serving two terms as governor, was unable to run again due to the state's term limit. He's spent the last seven months away from politics and spent the spring at Harvard University. Mary Ramsey contributed to this report.
Nahar Net
6 days ago
- Climate
- Nahar Net
Severe weather in tropical storm's wake triggers North Carolina state of emergency
by Naharnet Newsdesk 18 July 2025, 17:00 North Carolina can seek federal funding to help its overloaded response efforts to Tropical Storm Chantal, which killed at least six people and left damage from flooding in its wake, as Gov. Josh Stein announced a state of emergency Thursday. A one-two punch from Chantal followed by severe weather in the state's center has "overwhelmed the response and recovery efforts of local governments," according to Stein's executive order. Some rivers reached record-breaking levels from the storm, including the Eno River in Durham, one of several cities where some residents lost access to safe drinking water because of damage to the water system. In some places, the storm dumped as much as 9 to 12 inches of rain, according to the governor's office. Chantal hit at the end of the July Fourth weekend, and several days of severe weather plowed through as people were still picking up the pieces from damage caused by the tropical storm's remnants. The emergency declaration, which took effect Wednesday, jumpstarts the process for North Carolina to seek federal recovery assistance if needed. It covers 13 counties in the state's center, some of which are home to populous cities like Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. Local law enforcement agencies have confirmed at least six deaths from the storm. Businesses were wrecked and many residents were displaced from their homes after emergency responders rescued them from flooding. A 58-year-old woman called 911 on her way to work after her SUV got caught in floodwaters, but the call disconnected and she was later found dead a little ways from her unoccupied vehicle, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Rescuers searched for days in Chatham County only to find two missing canoers had died, the county sheriff's office said, while another woman died when floodwaters swept her vehicle off the road, the State Highway Patrol said. Two people died in Alamance County, including a missing 71-year-old man found dead inside his vehicle covered in flowing water, the sheriff's office said. The Graham County Police Department said a missing 23-year-old woman was found dead inside a submerged vehicle. Many people were also rescued during the storm. In one neighborhood north of Durham, the city's fire department said it did more than 80 water rescues amid the flooding. The fire department in Chapel Hill rescued more than 50 people while teaming up with neighboring agencies, mostly near apartments, officials said.
NBC News
7 days ago
- Climate
- NBC News
Millions under flood watches and heat wave warnings across U.S.
It will be a hot and wet weekend for large swathes of the U.S. with flood watches and intense heat wave warnings in place. Some Americans are already waking up to storms as 17 million are under flood alerts across the Gulf Coast and separately in the Mid-Atlantic. Heavy downpours already hit overnight, drenching Arkansas, Florida and Louisiana up to the Midwest. In Washington County, Indiana, an empty RV camper was swept away in flood waters on Thursday. In Uvalde, Texas, a person died and their body was located Thursday after the vehicle they were in got swept away in flood waters off Ranch Road 187. Kansas City, Missouri, saw a month's worth of rain in just a few hours that turned creeks into raging torrents of water, washing away property and submerging vehicles. The city area received between five to eight inches of rain in the last 36 hours, prompting 23 high-water rescues of people trapped in their vehicles, the local fire department said Thursday. Meanwhile Ruidoso, New Mexico, where three died in historic flash floods more than a week ago, is reeling with more rapidly rising flood waters. Today, along the Gulf Coast heavy rain associated with tropical moisture is pinwheeling across parts of eastern Texas, southern Louisiana and coastal Mississippi and Alabama. Thunderstorms with rainfall rates of two to three inches an hour could produce flooding for New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles in Louisiana; Beaumont, Texas; Biloxi, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida. In the Mid-Atlantic, flood watches are up across eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio and much of West Virginia and Virginia, as well as northern portions of Tennessee and North Carolina. The area most likely to experience flooding today is Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where rainfall rates of three inches an hour over saturated oil could cause rapid and sudden flash flooding in urban areas and around creeks and streams. This weekend, flood risk will turn to the Midwest, Ohio Valley and the Appalachians with cities to watch for flooding including Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Columbus, Ohio; Nashville, and Charleston, West Virginia. Power company PSE&G, which supplies New Jersey and parts of New York, told customers its preparing crews to help restore powers in storms, especially with the heat. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein also declared a state of emergency in 13 counties on Thursday due to tropical storm Chantal 's flooding. Sweltering heat will also ramp up this weekend with 19 million under heat alerts across parts of the mid-Atlantic, southern Florida and the Mississippi Valley. Cities under heat alerts include Raleigh, North Carolina; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Miami, Florida; Paducah, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas. Miami will experience feel temperature highs of 91 today and tomorrow, and 92 on Sunday, with a maximum heat index of 103. Raleigh will see highs of 94 today, and 95 on Saturday and Sunday with a maximum heat index of 106. Little Rock will see highs of 97 today, 96 tomorrow and 97 Sunday, with a maximum heat index of 110.
