North Carolina’s competitive Senate race came into shape on Tuesday, with former Democratic governor Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley winning their respective primaries.
Cooper, a former two-term governor, is widely seen among North Carolina’s Democrats as their best chance at flipping a Republican-controlled seat, held by retiring US senator Thom Tillis, a conservative who has turned hard against the Trump administration on its handling of healthcare, defense and the Epstein file disclosures.