Scoop: Roy Cooper leans toward N.C. Senate bid, potential Trump showdown

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

12 hours ago


North Carolina Democrats are getting closer to the gift they've have been asking for all year, with former Gov. Roy Cooper (D) leaning toward a Senate run in the state President Trump has won three times.

Why it matters: The field is essentially frozen until Cooper and Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, decide if they want to be their party's nominees.

In their own way, they both have the "right of first refusal" in their party's primaries.

What they're saying: "Governor Cooper continues to strongly consider a run for the Senate and will decide in the coming weeks," said Morgan Jackson, Cooper's top political adviser told Axios.

"I'm considering it," Lara Trump told Fox News Radio on Monday.

"This is all kind of fresh within the past 24 hours for me," she said.

"North Carolina is my home state. It's where I was born and raised. It made me the person I am today."

Driving the news: In a surprise Sunday move, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) announced in the middle of Senate negotiations over the one "big, beautiful bill," that he would not be seeking a third term.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/07/01/north-carolina-senate-roy-cooper-lara-trump