https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/Ongoing. Senator Thom Tillis said in June 2025 that he would not seek re-election, opening his North Carolina seat. Former Governor Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley, endorsed by President Trump, won their party primaries on 3 March 2026. They face Libertarian Shannon W. Bray and Green Michael Dublin on 3 November.enhttps://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e17north-carolina-senate-race-2026-dbd069dfceTue, 20 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000Trump held a rally with Republican candidates at Pitt-Greenville Airport and said his encouragement had led Whatley to run, the Associated Press reported.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e16north-carolina-senate-race-2026-cf316b91d1Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The State Board's general election candidate list names four Senate candidates: Cooper for the Democrats, Whatley for the Republicans, Shannon W. Bray for the Libertarians and Michael Dublin for the Green Party.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e15north-carolina-senate-race-2026-788068bd04Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cooper and Whatley had not agreed to a debate, according to reports by The Assembly and WUNC. Both campaigns had expressed willingness to discuss a debate, without announcing an agreement.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e14north-carolina-senate-race-2026-3816bce3d1Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000Michael Dublin filed as the Green Party candidate on 15 June 2026, State Board records show.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e13north-carolina-senate-race-2026-9fb72643b9Wed, 01 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000The State Board's composite results for the federal contests show Cooper with 761,345 of 827,755 Democratic primary votes and Whatley with 405,140 of 627,404 Republican primary votes. Don Brown was second in the Republican primary with 97,891 votes, and Justin E. Dues second in the Democratic primary with 22,295.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e12north-carolina-senate-race-2026-79aaffab03Wed, 25 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000The State Board of Elections certified state and local primary contests but held back the US Senate primary and six US House primaries. It said that in 10 counties the provisional ballots of 16 voters on its Registration Repair list had not been counted in the federal contests, referring to a consent judgment with the US Justice Department. It directed those counties to count the votes within two weeks and said they could not affect the outcome of any contest.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e11north-carolina-senate-race-2026-f63ebe9f9eWed, 04 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000Whatley framed the race as a choice between an ally for Trump in the Senate and a champion for the failed policies of the left, while Cooper said Republican policies were driving up prices and that tariffs and possible health care cuts were hurting North Carolinians, and called Whatley an out-of-touch D.C. insider, the Associated Press reported. AP said Whatley, Trump and other Republicans had criticized Cooper's criminal justice record as soft on crime, pointing to the August 2025 fatal stabbing of a refugee on a Charlotte light rail train.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e10north-carolina-senate-race-2026-82e5c4fd20Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000Cooper and Whatley won their respective party primaries, the Associated Press reported. The State Board subsequently published their vote totals in its composite results.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e9north-carolina-senate-race-2026-4e586c6dd4Sun, 01 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000The State Board of Elections voted to disqualify Margot Dupre from the Republican primary over its residency requirement, WFAE and Carolina Journal reported. Dupre disputed the decision and sought to remain in the race. The State Board's later composite results list votes for her.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e8north-carolina-senate-race-2026-af07fee186Mon, 01 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000State Board of Elections records show Whatley filed on 2 December 2025, Cooper on 3 December and Libertarian candidate Shannon W. Bray on 17 December. Six candidates appeared on the Democratic primary ballot and seven on the Republican ballot, including Don Brown, Michele Morrow and Margot Dupre.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e7north-carolina-senate-race-2026-7af99753e6Thu, 31 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000Whatley launched his campaign at an old textile mill near Charlotte, the Associated Press reported in a story datelined Gastonia. AP said he would leave the chairman's post at the Republican National Committee with his bid and had never been elected to government office.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e6north-carolina-senate-race-2026-110410a9e3Tue, 29 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000Nickel ended his Senate campaign a day after Cooper's announcement and endorsed him, praising what he called Cooper's steady, bipartisan leadership, the Associated Press reported.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e5north-carolina-senate-race-2026-fe689e0fc0Mon, 28 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000Former Governor Roy Cooper announced in a video on social media and his campaign website that he would seek the Democratic nomination, the Associated Press reported. AP reported that Cooper served 16 years as attorney general and eight as governor through 2024.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e3north-carolina-senate-race-2026-5f9a6efad2Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000Lara Trump, a former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, said on social media that she would not seek the seat, the Associated Press reported.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e4north-carolina-senate-race-2026-c73e234093Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000Trump endorsed Whatley on social media, saying he would make an unbelievable senator if he ran, the Associated Press reported.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e2north-carolina-senate-race-2026-f937a932f6Sun, 29 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000Tillis announced that he would not run for a third term in 2026. In his statement, he said compromise and independent thinking were becoming rarer in Washington. His retirement decision left the seat open.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e1north-carolina-senate-race-2026-023cf849f3Sat, 28 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000Tillis voted against advancing President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill, citing its health care cuts. Trump threatened to back a primary challenger, the Associated Press and NPR reported.https://howitunfolded.com/incidents/north-carolina-senate-race-2026/#e0north-carolina-senate-race-2026-5aeaa39128Tue, 01 Apr 2025 12:00:00 +0000Former US Representative Wiley Nickel formally entered the race for the Senate seat held by Thom Tillis in April 2025, seeking the Democratic nomination, the Associated Press reported.