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The matchup takes place in the crucial North Carolina Senate race, with former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley winning their primaries. NBC News Projects.
The North Carolina race will take place at the heart of this year’s battle for the Senate while the Republicans defend their majority 53-47. This is a must-win race for Democrats if they have any hope of securing the four seats they need to take control of the House.
Democrats are confident Cooper will be a formidable candidate after winning gubernatorial elections in 2016 and 2020, even as President Donald Trump carried the state. Trump also won the state in 2024, by 3 percentage points.
Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, a North Carolina native, left her candidacy to replace outgoing Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. So Republicans turned to Whatley, who was then chairman of the Republican National Committee and had previously led the North Carolina GOP.
Trump encouraged Whatley to run and supported his campaign when it launched in late July. And the RNC gave Whatley a boost by allowing the national party to devote resources to its campaign, even though it had not yet won the primary.
Whatley thanked Trump for his support in his victory speech Tuesday night, also describing the race as “a choice between a conservative champion from North Carolina, who will be an ally of President Trump in the Senate, or a champion of the left’s failed policies.”
Whatley, who tied himself to Trump at the start of the race, touted this support in the run-up to Tuesday’s primaries, launching a television commercial featuring Trump saying of Whatley that it’s “so important that he wins” and that he “represents your values.”
Whatley too launched an ad on streaming services ahead of Tuesday’s primary, offering a preview of his case against Cooper in the months to come.
This location links Cooper to a fatal stabbing last year on a train, in which Iryna Zarutska, 23, a Ukrainian refugee, was killed. The suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., had served prison time for robbery with a dangerous weapon. A federal grand jury charged him in October.
Whatley’s ad, which features video of the stabbing, also features a narrator denouncing Cooper’s support for a “woke cashless bail program,” with no source for the claim, and saying Cooper “has blood on his hands.”
“The murder of Iryna Zarutska was a despicable and evil act and it is disturbing that Michael Whatley continues to use images of her death in his advertisements against the express wishes of his family,” Cooper campaign spokesperson Jordan Monaghan told NBC News in a statement, referring to a report that Zarutska’s family asked the public in September to stop sharing the video. “Political candidates should stop lying about this tragedy for political purposes and actually work to keep our communities safe.”
“Roy Cooper is the only candidate who spent his career prosecuting violent criminals and keeping thousands of them behind bars as attorney general, and signing tougher crime laws and tougher bail and pretrial release rules as governor,” Monaghan said.
Cooper, who had served as state attorney general before becoming governor, signed a bill in 2023, change bail procedures for violent offenses.
Cooper, meanwhile, emphasized affordability on the campaign trail and he’s launching a “Make Stuff Cost Less” tour after the primary.
“If you want change in Washington, right, this campaign is for you,” Cooper said Tuesday night. “If you want to take down the insiders in DC, right? This campaign is for you. You know, if you just think things cost too much, right? This campaign is for you. I’ve never been in a race that’s more crucial for the people of North Carolina and for our country, and I need all of you to do this work.”
Cooper also built up his campaign coffers. He had raised $21.1 million and had $14.2 million in his bank account as of Feb. 11, while Whatley had raised $6.3 million and had $2.5 million.