Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper thanked supporters in Raleigh on Tuesday night after winning the state's open U.S. Senate seat and flipping it for Democrats, PBS News reported.
The scene in a downtown Raleigh hotel ballroom was loud. Music was playing and election coverage ran on a big screen. When the news of Cooper's win came up, the crowd broke into cheers, hugs and chants of "Cooper! Cooper!"
Cooper told supporters he had spoken with his Republican opponent, Michael Whatley, and that Whatley acknowledged the result. "Thank you for everything you did to take this United States Senate seat back for the people of North Carolina," Cooper said. He promised to be an "independent voice" for the state.
He said the campaign was about standing up for people who felt crushed by President Donald Trump's tariffs and by the cost of fuel and fertilizer "because of this never-ending war."
Other Democratic leaders celebrated with him. Anderson Clayton, who chairs the North Carolina Democratic Party, said Cooper's decades in public office made him an especially strong candidate. "He's woven into the fabric of North Carolina," she said. Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, said in a speech soon after the race was called that voters had chosen "competence over chaos."
Cooper served two terms as governor, from 2017 until early 2025. NPR reported that he becomes the first Democrat elected to the Senate from North Carolina since 2008. Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chair, was picked by Trump to run for the seat after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis decided not to seek reelection.
The seat was one of the Democrats' top targets in their push for a Senate majority.
Sources: PBS News, NPR, The Associated Press