What to watch in the race for North Carolina's open Senate seat
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Myles Parks. I cover voting.
I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover politics.
And Colin Campbell of member station WUNC in North Carolina is here with us as well. Hi, Colin. Hey, Myles and Ashley. And today on the show, voting in this year's midterms is already underway in North Carolina, a state that has a really interesting Senate race brewing. So, Colin, this Senate seat is open because Republican Tom Tillis announced that he's not running for reelection. Tell us who is on the ballot to try to replace him.
Yeah. So on the Republican side, we have Michael Watley, who's the Trump endorsed candidate in the primary. He was previously the chairman of the Republican National Committee. He led the Republican Party in North Carolina before that. But it's his first run for elected office outside of party leadership roles.
What is the main focus of the North Carolina Senate race?
And on the Democratic side, we've got former Governor Roy Cooper running. He served two terms, left office about a year or so ago. And he is likely the candidate on the Democratic side. He's been in office for decades here, never lost an election. Democrats really hopeful that this could be the year that he could be the candidate that gets them across the finish line in a Senate race.
Yeah. And Whatley is also working with way less name recognition than obviously a governor. So this is going to be a little bit of an easier lift for Democrats than they would otherwise in a state that, by the way, obviously went to Trump in 2024. So this could be one of several hopeful pickups for them this year.
Who are the leading candidates for the Senate seat in North Carolina?
I will say it's a little surprising to me, an open seat in a competitive state, that the Democratic and Republican primaries for this seat seem, if not wrapped up, but a little bit uncompetitive. Can you explain, do you have any thoughts on why that is, Colin?
Yeah, I mean, voters here will have a choice on their ballot. There's multiple candidates in each party's primary. But this is a situation where both parties, I think, saw some pretty high stakes in this race and early on decided to anoint their candidates. When former Governor Roy Cooper jumped in on the Democratic side, that kind of cleared the field. Some other candidates that had name recognition and were running dropped out at that point in the race. On the Republican side, there was a lot of interest when Tom Tillis announced last year that he was going to drop out of the race. Other members of Congress who are Republicans were interested at one point. There was discussion of Laura Trump. The president's daughter-in-law might be interested in the race.
Ultimately, the race there was for President Trump's endorsement. A lot of people talked to him. And as soon as he weighed in with Michael Watley being his pick for his endorsement, that caused all the other folks to sort of step aside and let Watley run. Granted, there are two other candidates that are noteworthy in this primary. Michelle Morrow, who beat a Republican incumbent for state superintendent of public instruction a couple years ago. She's more on sort of the fringe extreme of the party. Same goes for Don Brown, who's an attorney whose claim to fame is that he represented some of the January 6th defendants in court. Both of those not expected to win, but certainly may test the value of the Trump endorsement in a race where the Trump endorsed candidate, Michael Whatley, like Ashley said, is not that well known.
Can you tell us a little bit more about Roy Cooper on the Democratic side? I mean, this is somebody who is a fairly popular two-term governor. But for people who aren't in North Carolina, I'm not sure we're super familiar with what he's known for. Tell us a little bit more about him.
Yeah, he's sort of this old school kind of moderate North Carolina Democratic politician, was an attorney from a small town around Rocky Mount, first served in the state legislature back in the 80s, eventually became attorney general for the state, waited for 16 years in that role before he decided to run for governor. and then had two terms where he's fairly popular.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:04–0:48
2
What is the main focus of the North Carolina Senate race?
0:48–1:23
3
Who are the leading candidates for the Senate seat in North Carolina?
1:23–5:29
4
Why are the Democratic and Republican primaries considered uncompetitive?
5:29–13:24
5
What factors contribute to Roy Cooper's popularity as a candidate?
13:24–16:42
6
How does North Carolina fit into the broader Senate race strategy for Democrats?
16:42–17:44