BREAKING: Democrat Roy Cooper enters the US Senate race in North Carolina
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen.bsky.social) July 28, 2025 at 8:32 AM
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Roy Cooper raised $3.4 million in the first 24 hours of his Senate campaign — a record-breaking sum for the former North Carolina governor in one of the most competitive upcoming Senate races. www.politico.com/news/2025/07…
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) July 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
BlueAmp with the background — “Roy Cooper Raids the GOP Senate Map; it Echoes Across the U.S.”:
… You may remember the seat was left open when Mr. 58-spoons-full-of-sugar to make a lb of crushed Adderall go down, Don-boy, insulted GOP Senator, Thom Tillis.
Tillis gave Trump damn near everything Trump ever wanted (ok, no sharks, batteries or porn stars). But Tillis wouldn’t support his job-killing, debt-exploding Big Barbaric Bill to starve children and kill Americans by confiscating their healthcare. So Trump, per usual, did the adult thing. He insulted Tillis, said he’d support a primary challenger. Tillis responded with a stick it up your *** I’m out. Whoops…
… This decision by Roy Cooper..it’s honestly hard to explain how huge it is. An earthquake. Not a tremor. A tectonic shift that just cracked GOP’s control of the Senate wide open. And I’m here to tell you why—because monopoly media sure won’t.
Cooper isn’t just another name on a ballot. He’s a two-term North Carolina Governor, former four-term NC Attorney General. So, to quote Keith Olbermann, “if you’re scoring at home—or even if you’re alone, ”he’s run a lot in this state and won. The kinda Democrat who’s successful in the South because he doesn’t back down and doesn’t play cute with half measures to make everyone happy.
Sure, he’s a moderate that fits his state, but passionate about equality under the law and helping working people. He fought to expand Medicaid (nice contrast with GOP BBB ghouls), harshen penalties for domestic violence and tighten regulations on guns.
Cooper’s so popular, one wonders what he could’ve done if MAGAs hadn’t gerrymandered their way to state legislative control and stripped him of as much power as possible. Because—and you may know this—when Republicans lose, they cheat. Ya know, like Trump on a Scottish (or really any) golf course…
Roy Cooper is awesome
— Prof Gavin Yamey (@gavinyamey.bsky.social) July 28, 2025 at 2:26 PM
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A bunch of nitwits & blockheads & shit stirrers & ratfuckers attacking Roy Cooper for being religious probably helped Roy Cooper.
— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) July 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
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Roy Cooper broke fundraising records in his first 24 hours as a Senate candidate.
He’s going to need the massive cash boost for what’s expected to become one of the most expensive statewide campaigns in US history.— Politico (@politico.com) July 30, 2025 at 9:17 AM
… National and North Carolina strategists from both parties said the race — likely between Cooper and Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement — could be one of the costliest Senate races in the 2026 midterms, topping out at $650 to $800 million, according to private estimates described by both parties. That would crack the previous national record set by the 2022 Georgia Senate race, which cost nearly $500 million.
“You have a two-time governor, now seeking the U.S. Senate, running against, essentially, the RNC, so both candidates, both parties, are going to bring a lot of money to this race,” said Democratic state Sen. Jay Chaudhuri. “Not since Jesse Helms versus Jim Hunt [in the 1984 Senate race] have you had two such national prominent candidates run against each other.”…
The early contours of the race, upended by Sen. Thom Tillis’ decision to not run for reelection last month, are coming into focus as the campaigns preview their messages and attacks in digital ads. Cooper went after Republicans for cutting Medicaid, “disrespecting” veterans and raising the national debt in his launch video. And since he and Whatley are both expected to clear their respective primary fields, the race is fast-forwarding into a marquee general election contest.
Even Republicans acknowledge Cooper’s “pretty good track record as governor,” Tillis told reporters Monday night…
Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC closely aligned with GOP Senate leadership, is already leaning into that message with a $200,000 digital ad buy labeling Cooper as “Radical Roy,” who they said “masquerades as a moderate” but is “just another radical D.C. liberal in disguise.”
“Higher taxes, sanctuary cities and a radical gender ideology,” one digital ad said. “He says he’s a moderate, but Roy Cooper’s record tells a radically different story.”
Privately, however, some North Carolina Republicans acknowledge the former governor “has the benefit of being, in the eyes of a lot of swing voters, the good ole boy from Rocky Mount, [N.C.], who they’ve known for 30 years and, so far, nobody’s been able to effectively message against that on the Republican side,” said one GOP strategist, granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly.
Republicans must also push back on Tillis’ own concerns that “the Medicaid cuts are a guillotine swinging over Republican necks right now,” the strategist continued, which “if they end up being half as bad as Tillis says, that could be enough for Cooper to get over the finish line.”…
Roy Cooper enters North Carolina Senate race.
Democrats got their wish with popular former NC Gov. Roy Cooper entering the race. Cooper talks with @maddow.msnbc.com about his accomplishments leading North Carolina.
WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqVs…— MSNBC (@msnbc.com) July 29, 2025 at 10:38 AM
(Transcript at the link.)
Which Side Are You On?
WaterGirl
So relieved that he stepped into the race.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m a Roy Cooper fan, and I’m thrilled he’s running for Senate. Can’t cast a vote for him, but I’ll do anything else within my scope to get him elected next year.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Nice to see you here! I have missed seeing you more.
SiubhanDuinne
BTW, in case people are unaware but interested, MVP Kamala Harris is going to be the guest on Stephen Colbert tonight. I’m usually asleep long before his monologue and catch highlights on YT the next day, but am definitely staying up for this!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Godless, secular humanist here.
Cooper can mention prayer, pray, hell he can sacrifice a goat on an altar (a bit too Old Testamenty in all likelihood) and if it galvanizes the *base* of the Dem Party in NC to get out and vote and get their friends and family to get out and vote, more power to him.
Baud
Good. And I don’t care that he’s older.
New Deal democrat
I tried to leave this comment this morning, but something Borked, so I am leaving it (again?) here. For whomever might be interested …
Last year I pointed out a number of times that the economy was actually weaker than we Democrats would have like to seen going in to an election.
Well, yesterday the “Business Dynamics Survey” for Q4 of last year came out. As opposed to the monthly jobs report, which is based on a survey, the BDS is an actual census including about 75% of all businesses (those that have remained in existence long enough to count their actual hiring over time). It is based on something called the QCEW, which is a complete census of over 95% of employers. In addition to the “longitudinally” aspect, unlike the QCEW, the BDS is seasonally adjusted. Ultimately, the monthly jobs reports get annually revised to reflect the QCEW and BDS data.
Based on the latest QCEW, I expected the BDS to report that less than half as many jobs were actually created in Q4 of last year as the monthly reports indicated. And that is what happened, as it cut the reported NFP gains by more than half, to 287,000. For the earlier Quarters of 2024, the gains (losses) were 403,000, (163,000), and (1,000), for an annual gain of 616,000, vs. the reported gain from the monthly reports of 2,012,000.
In other words, at the time of last November’s election, in reality for the last 6 months there may have been no job gains whatsoever. Incumbent parties lose those elections.
Steve LaBonne
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Same here.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
I wrote a nice long response to your comment, and just as I was hitting Send there was a great clap of thunder and lightning flash, and my beautiful prose got fried. So this will simply thank you and let you know I’ve merely been busy preparing and teaching classes. Also trying to stay away from the worst of jackal infighting when it happens.
prostratedragon
Booger
Hats Off To Roy Cooper!
Geminid
Capitol Hill correspondent Jaime Dupree posted this a few days ago, from North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson:
Former Rep. Jeff Jackson is a very dynamic politician who could be the one to unseat North Carolina’s other Republican Senator, who is so mediocre I keep forgetting his name. I think that seat comes up in 2028
Captain C
I put in for a $10 monthly donation to Cooper (and also Ossoff). I really want to get the Senate as well as the House in ’26.
Bill Arnold
@New Deal democrat:
Interesting. Thanks!
That’s a long delay (4Q to July).
Are their any useful real-time proxies for the QCEW/BDS?
Omnes Omnibus
Isn’t he old and religious?
Captain C
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
I would go to that party.
New Deal democrat
@Bill Arnold:
Unfortunately, no. This is why we have these long-delayed “annual revisions” each year to the jobs data.
Albatrossity
Apropos of nothing except that this is an open thread, according to WaPo (AKA the Great Satan), the Smithsonian has removed mention of Trump’s two impeachments from an exhibit in the National Museum of American History.
They never happened. Is this a great country, or what?
I’m going with What?, also brought to you by the letters T and F.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Geminid:
On a good day, I can’t think of one GOP Senator who isn’t “so mediocre”. I looked thru their caucus last week and was amazed at how many I didn’t know.
PsiFighter37
@Geminid: He’s not former Rep. Jeff Jackson; he is currently state Attorney General Jeff Jackson. I think he is going to fight to hold onto that seat, because if Dems can hold onto both governor and AG in 2028, it will be crucial for redistricting in 2030.
The other senator in NC is Ted Budd, as unmemorable a name as Elmer Fudd, and someone who has been a pure rubber stamp for the felon. Democrats not investing more money into Cheryl Beasley’s campaign was criminal, although she herself was not the strongest candidate. Unfortunately, the Democratic bench in North Carolina is not very strong, and if they wanted to take Budd out, I would almost be inclined for Stein to forego a reelection race in 2028 to instead take on Budd – but I imagine being governor is probably far more satisfying, even if it’s mostly vetoing crazy stuff from the state legislature, than being a senator is.
Geminid
@PsiFighter37: He’s both Attorney General Jeff Jackson and former Rep. Jeff Jackson. I called him one in my first paragraph and called him the other in my second.
Josh Stein and Jeff Jackson are both capable politicians and either one would make a good Senate candidate.
Dan B
A few words about Joe Kent the new Antiterrorism Czar. He’s extremely right wing, worked with Nick Fuentes, and has the potential to go after every progressive in the US. He’s from Eastern Washington and is even too extreme for them. His nomination frightens me.
WaterGirl
@Dan B: And your comment scares me.
Baud
Geminid
@Dan B: Joe Kent’s dangerous for sure, but he’s from southwestern Washington. Kent’s the guy Notorious MGP beat twice in WA03. That district is based in Clark County, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.
RevRick
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Mediocre is high praise for the GOP Senate caucus. I would say abysmal.
Dan B
@Geminid: You’re right, my bad. SW Washington. I must have been brain dead from hours of the Blue Sky Monsters including right over our house on the way to Boeing Field. Explains the brain fart, right… right?
Jackie
@Dan B: To be fair, he’s too extreme for this eastern Washingtonian.
ETA Seafair Week! I LOVE the air show, myself.
BellyCat
Great news.
The fact that record-breaking fundraising is so prevalent in all these stories is deeply troubling.
Dan B
@Jackie: Its fun but an hour twice a day when the cats are traumatized and the birds rattled, plus it violates the Drag Queen Rule: Get on, do your thing, get off and leave them wanting more! I’d love half an hour.
Geminid
@Dan B: WA03 is an interesting district. Mary Gluesenkamp Perez flipped it in 2022 after incumbent Rep. Jaime Herrera Butler came in 3rd in the jungle primary. Butler had voted to impeach Trump the year before.
WA03 is a suburban/exurban/rural district. There are a lot swing districts like that now. OR05, which runs east from the Portland Portland suburbs is similar in that respect.
That one also flipped in 2022, after the incumbent lost his primary. Rep. Kurt Schrader didn’t vote to impeach anybody, he was just a centrist jerk and district Democrats decided they wanted someone more liberal, which was Jaime McLeod Skinner.
Skinner lost by just a few thousand votes that November. Then last year state Rep. Janelle Bynum beat McLeod in the primary and went on to flip OR05 back. I think Bynum will hang on to that seat for a while.
She and Mary Gluesenkamp Perez might fly back and forth to DC together. They could talk cars. Perez owns an auto repair business with her husband, while Bynum went to work for GM after she earned an Electrical Engineering degree from Florida A&M.
Bupalos
Campaign money will not matter that much, at least if it’s spent in the traditional way. In fact it’s somewhat of a double-edged sword.
Whether you can command attention is what matters now. He starts with a nice lead and nice legacy positives, and that matters…. but he and his campaign don’t necessarily give off vibes that he understands we’re in a different political era. Feels like a “prevent-defense” kind of campaign.
I think he should be clockwork-oranged on Mamdani footage.
mrmoshpotato
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks for the heads up. They’ll post the entire interview on YouTube, but they cut it into segments.
Bupalos
@Baud: Kinda.
I’ll say, I was kinda freaked out by his announcement video. The hardest-edged thing he did, and the thing he got the most attention for, and the thing that was most politically effective….was admit/brag that he “prayed.”
This feels like a Charlie Crist North kind of play. Where it seems reasonable and plausible and then it’s like “but actually…”
But he starts with great numbers. We’ll see if he can defend them. Hopefully Epstein soaks up all the oxygen.
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: Betcha Hal watches and dissects the whole thing, which will be fun to watch.
zhena gogolia
Great JGC post up top.
mrmoshpotato
@MagdaInBlack: Are late night show interviews in his wheelhouse?
MagdaInBlack
@mrmoshpotato: Pretty much anything is. But he has been all over Epstein money thing, so I have no doubt he will be on this. Probably do a whole show of just the interview.
Right now we are ripping in to Meghan Kelly.
Melancholy Jaques
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m concerned that if I watch I will start crying uncontrollably.
Melancholy Jaques
@Baud:
I feel the same as John Cole. Please just fucking win, Mr Cooper.
Melancholy Jaques
@Bupalos:
Charlie Crist switched parties, so he kept his old enemies and gained a few new ones.
EntroPi
With all that money, you have to wonder which “big name” Democratic consultancy firms are lining up to work for him so they can line up to later blame fringe non-entity liberal groups who never got any of that cash for any loss. //
In slightly more seriousness, as a regular lurker, I appreciate the comments from those who can name names and number numbers from the usual annoying suspects.
Hoodie
@Bupalos: You’re showing your ignorance. Cooper is one the most popular and courageous pols in NC. He won two governor’s races while Trump was carrying the state. NC is purple with a horribly gerrymandered legislature. It is not Florida. All those complaining about him talking about prayer are idiots, and I say that as someone who is not religious.
Jackie
@Hoodie: 👍🏻
Bupalos
I understand that. He starts with great numbers. I very specifically said that.
His announcement video looks like he thinks he’s running in 2012.
Sure. The point is it’s what brought attention. I mean, it may work out as positive attention. I’m just saying, he couldn’t buy as much attention with the 3.4 million as what he got from leftier-than-thou’s attacking him for believing in the spaghetti monster. I don’t think he or his campaign understands that. Kudos to them if that was engineered. As I said, it was worth more than all the money he raised.
Hopefully Epstein soaks up all the oxygen and the old numbers pull him through. This kind of politician is, broadly speaking, done.