# @chapelboronews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DMp4FJZOZLP
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/32743054-chapelboronews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/495f517170.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-07-28T14:10:19.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Chapelboro.com (@chapelboronews) — https://gondola.cc/chapelboronews

## Caption

Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper will run for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina, giving Democrats a proven statewide winner in an open-seat race that is expected to be one of the most competitive 2026 contests.

Cooper made the announcement Monday with a video released on social media and his campaign website. The former two-term governor will immediately become the front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley plans to run for the GOP nomination, with President Donald Trump’s blessing, according to two people familiar with his thinking who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly before an official announcement.

Whatley, the former North Carolina GOP chairman, received Trump’s endorsement after the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, passed on the seat.
Cooper’s candidacy is a big recruiting win for Democrats, who see the open seat as a top pick-up opportunity in what will be a challenging year. To retake the majority in 2026, Democrats need to net four seats, and most of the contests are in states that Trump easily won last year. Trump won North Carolina by about 3 percentage points, one of his closest margins of victory.

Trump endorsed Whatley on his Truth Social platform Thursday night, posting that should he run, “Mike would make an unbelievable Senator from North Carolina.”

Ex-U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel already has been campaigning for the Democratic nomination for months. Party primaries would be March 3.

Cooper, 68, has been on statewide ballots going back a quarter-century — serving 16 years previously as attorney general before being first elected governor in 2016.

Via The Associated Press. Full story on Chapelboro.com.
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#ncsenator #roycooper #nc #northcarolina

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## Tags

roycooper, northcarolina, nc, ncsenator

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