Democrat Roy Cooper has ended his party’s Senate losing streak in North Carolina.

Roy Cooper has flipped North Carolina’s open Senate seat, giving Democrats their first Senate win in the state since 2008.

The recent two-term governor defeated Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chair, in a race widely seen as Democrats’ best pickup opportunity of the night. The seat opened when Republican Sen. Thom Tillis chose not to seek re-election.

Kay Hagan was the last Democrat to win a Senate race in North Carolina. Races since have been close, and Democrats’ losses in 2020 and 2022 helped Republicans in Washington.

Cooper served as North Carolina’s attorney general before his two terms as governor, and he has never lost a race in the state. Whatley, an untested candidate running with President Donald Trump’s vocal support, could have pitched himself as a fresh alternative to a well-known opponent. But for months, Cooper appeared to be in a comfortable position, even though Trump carried North Carolina in all three of his presidential runs.

Cooper, 69, was one of Democrats’ strongest Senate recruits of the cycle. He is a moderate with crossover appeal in a state where elections are usually close, but Republicans have long held outsize power.

For Republicans, Whatley’s defeat hurts their Senate math. It is also a knock on Trump’s endorsement record.

Even with Cooper’s win, Democrats still face a difficult map in their bid to retake the Senate. Beyond Maine and North Carolina, their remaining pickup opportunities are in redder states that were not presidential battlegrounds in 2024.

Yet discontent with Trump over the economy and his actions since returning to the White House has given Democrats an opening. It could help them start winning back power even in more conservative states.

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