{"id":11582042,"date":"2025-07-28T10:18:34","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T14:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11582042"},"modified":"2025-07-28T10:40:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T14:40:37","slug":"former-gov-cooper-makes-it-official-enters-north-carolinas-us-senate-seat-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/28\/former-gov-cooper-makes-it-official-enters-north-carolinas-us-senate-seat-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Gov. Cooper makes it official, enters North Carolina’s US Senate seat race"},"content":{"rendered":"

After much speculation, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has announced plans to run for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.<\/p>\n

“I have thought on it and prayed about it, and I have decided: I want to serve as your next United States senator, because, even now, I still believe our best days are ahead,” Cooper said in a video posted to his YouTube account on Monday. “The decisions we make in the next election will determine if we even have a middle class in America anymore.<\/p>\n

“Politicians in D.C. are running up our debt, ripping away our healthcare, disrespecting our veterans, cutting help for the poor, and even putting Medicare and Social Security at risk, just to give tax breaks to billionaires.”<\/p>\n

Cooper hinted at his candidacy at a Democratic fundraiser over the weekend. The official announcement comes days after Axios and The New York Times reported the former governor planned to throw his hat in the ring\u00a0and run for Republican Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat after Tillis announced his plans not to seek reelection.<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Kirsten Gillibrand released a statement in support of Cooper’s candidacy, saying he has a history of winning tough races and will help flip the seat.<\/p>\n

“Gov. Cooper is a formidable candidate who will flip North Carolina’s Senate seat, and his announcement is the latest indication that the Republicans’ Senate majority is at risk in 2026,” Schumer and Gillibrand’s joint statement said, in part.<\/p>\n

Although\u00a0 President DonaldTrump has endorsed Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley to compete for the seat, Whatley has not made an official announcement as of Monday. Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump said last week she decided against a run to instead remain as host for her weekly show, \u00a0\u201cMy View with Lara Trump,\u201d on Fox News.<\/p>\n

Prior to serving as the RNC chair, Whatley ran the North Carolina Republican Party for five years. He grew up in Watauga County in the northwestern part of North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Cooper served as North Carolina’s governor from 2017 to 2025 after defeating Republican incumbent Pat McCrory. Before serving as governor, Cooper was the state’s attorney general from 2001 to 2017.<\/p>\n

Content from The National Desk is provided by Sinclair, the parent company of FOX45 News.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand released a statement in support of former Gov. Roy Cooper’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina, saying he has a history of winning tough races and will flip the seat. They added his “announcement is the latest indication that the Republicans’ Senate majority is at risk in 2026.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":10267285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-28T14:40:39Z","apple_news_api_id":"a9cbf3a5-a0bf-401a-ba12-4c0154822998","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-28T14:40:40Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AqcvzpaC_QBq6EkwBVIIpmA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[91,85],"tags":[25302],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[25586],"class_list":["post-11582042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","tag-fox45-news"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"91","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"Former Gov. Cooper makes it official, enters North Carolina's US Senate seat race","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"inside","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":1753747200,"print_slug":"TBS-L-FOXCOOPERNCSENATE-0729","print_content":"

After much speculation, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has announced plans to run for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.<\/p>\n

\"I have thought on it and prayed about it, and I have decided: I want to serve as your next United States senator, because, even now, I still believe our best days are ahead,\" Cooper said in a video posted to his YouTube account on Monday. \"The decisions we make in the next election will determine if we even have a middle class in America anymore.<\/p>\n

\"Politicians in D.C. are running up our debt, ripping away our healthcare, disrespecting our veterans, cutting help for the poor, and even putting Medicare and Social Security at risk, just to give tax breaks to billionaires.\"<\/p>\n

Cooper hinted at his candidacy at a Democratic fundraiser over the weekend. The official announcement comes days after Axios and The New York Times reported the former governor planned to throw his hat in the ring\u00a0and run for Republican Sen. Thom Tillis' seat after Tillis announced his plans not to seek reelection.<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Kirsten Gillibrand released a statement in support of Cooper's candidacy, saying he has a history of winning tough races and will help flip the seat.<\/p>\n

\"Gov. Cooper is a formidable candidate who will flip North Carolina's Senate seat, and his announcement is the latest indication that the Republicans' Senate majority is at risk in 2026,\" Schumer and Gillibrand's joint statement said, in part.<\/p>\n

Although\u00a0 President DonaldTrump has endorsed Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley to compete for the seat, Whatley has not made an official announcement as of Monday. Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump said last week she decided against a run to instead remain as host for her weekly show, \u00a0\u201cMy View with Lara Trump,\u201d on Fox News.<\/p>\n

Prior to serving as the RNC chair, Whatley ran the North Carolina Republican Party for five years. He grew up in Watauga County in the northwestern part of North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Cooper served as North Carolina's governor from 2017 to 2025 after defeating Republican incumbent Pat McCrory. Before serving as governor, Cooper was the state's attorney general from 2001 to 2017.<\/p>\n

Content from The National Desk is provided by Sinclair, the parent company of FOX45 News.<\/em><\/p>\n","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand released a statement in support of former Gov. Roy Cooper's candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina, saying he has a history of winning tough races and will flip the seat. They added his \"announcement is the latest indication that the Republicans' Senate majority is at risk in 2026.\"","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. 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