Roy Cooper, a former Democratic governor of North Carolina, and Michael Whatley, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, won their respective primaries for a U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
The results set the stage for a November matchup that Democrats believe they must win to have any chance of netting at least four seats in the Senate, which they need to regain control of the chamber.
North Carolina has broken national Democrats’ hearts for nearly two decades. But this time, there is hope among the base that Mr. Cooper, a moderate Democrat with widespread name recognition who has never lost an election in more than 30 years, can once again find a path to victory in politically purple North Carolina.
The state voted for President Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024. But Democrats managed to win the governor’s contest those years, too. Mr. Cooper won in 2016 and 2020.
Mr. Whatley, who entered the race with Mr. Trump’s support, has little name recognition in the state. But he has worked for Republicans for decades, and spent years boosting Mr. Trump’s political movement.
Even before the primary on Tuesday, Mr. Whatley, anticipating the November matchup, had begun attacking Mr. Cooper’s record and his image as a moderate, saying he is soft on crime and on curbing immigration, and that he does not work well with Republicans.
Mr. Cooper’s campaign has prioritized affordability, an issue that has struck a nerve across the country, and he has portrayed Mr. Whatley as a Washington lobbyist who is out of touch with residents’ struggles.
The Senate seat came up for grabs after Thom Tillis, a Republican, announced last summer that he would vacate the seat at the end of his term. Mr. Trump announced almost immediately that he would back Mr. Whatley.
North Carolina and Maine are the only two states holding Senate elections this year in which Democrats have been competitive recently. To win control of the chamber, the party must lock down seats that Democrats already hold in swing states like Georgia and Michigan, and take Republican seats in North Carolina and Maine.
The road then gets considerably steeper in Republican states such as Iowa, Ohio and Alaska, where Democrats need at least two more victories.
Eduardo Medina is a Times reporter covering the South. An Alabama native, he is now based in Durham, N.C.
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