Roy Cooper’s Affordability-Focused Campaign Puts Rare North Carolina Senate Win Within Democrats’ Reach

RALEIGH, North Carolina, October 18 – Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has opened a double-digit lead in the state’s US Senate race, putting Democrats in a strong position to win a Senate seat in North Carolina for the first time in nearly two decades. His campaign has focused heavily on the cost of living, built around a simple promise to “make stuff cost less.”

An October SurveyUSA poll showed Cooper 14 points ahead of his Republican opponent, Michael Whatley. Less than three weeks before the election, the main super PAC backing Senate Republicans has stopped its television advertising in North Carolina. It has begun moving money to defend seats in states including Iowa and Kansas.

The race is central to Democratic hopes of retaking the Senate. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority, so Democrats must gain four seats in the November 3 midterm elections to win control.

At a rally in Raleigh in September, Cooper said families should not have to choose between seeing a doctor and buying food. He has attacked President Donald Trump’s main domestic law, arguing that Republicans cut North Carolinians’ healthcare to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. Some Democrats in strongly Democratic states have backed Medicare for All. Cooper has instead focused on expanding existing coverage and lowering costs. He points to his long effort to expand Medicaid in North Carolina, which became the main bipartisan achievement of his time as governor, and he campaigns on prescription drug and insurance prices.

His approach seems especially suited to North Carolina, where 40 percent of registered voters belong to neither party, compared with 30 percent each for Republicans and Democrats. Neera Tanden, president of the Democratic-aligned Center for American Progress, said Cooper can win over independents and even some Republicans because his message on costs is backed by his record in office.

Republicans say the circumstances are unusual. Paul Shumaker, a veteran Republican strategist in the state, said Cooper entered the race already well known and trusted by voters. He added that Whatley had not set himself apart from Trump.

Democrats now face a broader question. They want to know whether Cooper’s strategy can win Republican and independent voters in other states, or whether his success depends on his own profile as a former governor who has not lost an election in four decades of public life. Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, noted that Cooper has consistently polled ahead of his Republican rivals.