Democratic primary · March 3, 2026
North Carolina Senate Democratic primary
Roy Cooper won the Democratic primary on March 3, 2026, advancing to the general election on November 3, 2026.
Caution · early warning
Editorial raters moved while polling has gone quiet
The last rating change here was 4d ago, but only 0 polls have landed in the last 60 days. When raters move and pollsters don't, the rating shift may be running ahead of the data. Watch for a late-cycle correction in either direction.
Where this race stands
VerifiedShowing the Democratic primary view. General-election ratings, forecasts, and tipping-point odds aren't meaningful for a single-party primary — switch to the general election view for those.
Primary result · Democratic primary
Official outcome · March 3, 2026 · forecast shown for reference1Roy CooperFormer governor of North Carolina · 2017–2025
Polling average
Weighted, plus each pollster's measured bias subtracted before averaging.
All polls · 2 results
strongpositiveinfocautionflag
| Date | Pollster · trust signals | n · pop | Cooper | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26 | High Point Univ. | 289 · LV | 78 | — |
| Feb 19 | High Point University | — · unknown | 78 | — |
Endorsements · Democratic primary · 22 total
Source · Wikipedia · 0 candidates with no endorsements yetRoy Cooper · 22
DRoy Cooper22 endorsers
Most notable · Kamala Harris · former vice president of the United States (2021–2025)
Organizations12
Organizations · 12
- American Federation of Government Employees
- Democratic Majority for Israel
- End Citizens United
- Giffords
- Jewish Democratic Council of America
- League of Conservation Voters
- National Education Association
- North Carolina Association of Educators
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund
- Red Wine & Blue
- Reproductive Freedom for All
- Sierra Club
Elected officials10
Federal 5State 3Local 1
Elected officials · 10
- Kamala Harris · former vice president of the United States (2021–2025)
- Chuck Schumer · Senate minority leader (2017–2021, 2025–present) from New York (1999–present)
- Anderson Clayton · chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party (2023–present)
- Josh Stein · governor of North Carolina (2025–present)
- Wes Moore · governor of Maryland (2023–present)
- Jeff Jackson · attorney general of North Carolina (2025–present)
- Deborah Ross · NC-02 (2021–present) and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016
- Canton · athers, mayor of Canton (2017–present)
- Kirsten Gillibrand · New York (2009–present)
- Wiley Nickel · former NC-13 (2023–2025)
Money in this primary
FEC · per-candidate committees · last filing 2026-07-03Roy CooperS6NC00407 ↗
Raised
$26.82M
Cash on hand
$18.46M
Top industries
Education$115K
Education · $115K
- Duke University · $115K
Individuals $115K · PACs $0
Lawyers / law firms$105K
Lawyers / law firms · $105K
- Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP · $40K
- Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP · $34K
- Wilmerhale LLP · $31K
Individuals $105K · PACs $0
Securities & investment$35K
Securities & investment · $35K
- Jane Street Capital · $35K
Individuals $35K · PACs $0
Govt employees$33K
Govt employees · $33K
- State of North Carolina · $33K
Individuals $33K · PACs $0
TV / movies / music$22K
TV / movies / music · $22K
- Netflix · $22K
Individuals $22K · PACs $0
Demographic crosstabs
1 poll with subgroup data · general-election splitsAge
18-29D +56
56%0%
Age · 18-29
Democrat56%
Republican0%
Other / undecided44%
MarginD +56
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
30-44D +55
55%0%
Age · 30-44
Democrat55%
Republican0%
Other / undecided45%
MarginD +55
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
45-64D +47
47%0%
Age · 45-64
Democrat47%
Republican0%
Other / undecided53%
MarginD +47
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
65+D +52
52%0%
Age · 65+
Democrat52%
Republican0%
Other / undecided48%
MarginD +52
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
Party
DemD +95
95%0%
Party · Dem
Democrat95%
Republican0%
Other / undecided5%
MarginD +95
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
RepD +10
10%0%
Party · Rep
Democrat10%
Republican0%
Other / undecided90%
MarginD +10
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
Race
OtherD +56
56%0%
Race · Other
Democrat56%
Republican0%
Other / undecided44%
MarginD +56
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
WhiteD +42
42%0%
Race · White
Democrat42%
Republican0%
Other / undecided58%
MarginD +42
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
Region
EastD +61
61%0%
Region · East
Democrat61%
Republican0%
Other / undecided39%
MarginD +61
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
MetroD +41
41%0%
Region · Metro
Democrat41%
Republican0%
Other / undecided59%
MarginD +41
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
WestD +52
52%0%
Region · West
Democrat52%
Republican0%
Other / undecided48%
MarginD +52
Siena College · field end 2026-07-01
In the news
12 shown · last 30d · Google NewsNews volume · 30d
12 articles · building history
News volume · last 30d
Articles12
Trendbuilding history
Article counts indexed by Google News; the sparkline traces weekly volume across the window.
Net favorability
+0.17
Coverage lean (D−R) · shift −0.22 wk
Net favorability
Score+0.17
Week-over-weekshift −0.22 wk
Tone of coverage, D minus R, scored from −1 (all R-favorable) to +1 (all D-favorable). 0 is balanced.
Coverage tilt
D 17%
Neutral 83%
17% of outlets rated · by editorial lean
Coverage tilt · by outlet lean
D-leaning outlets17%
Neutral83%
R-leaning outlets0%
17% of outlets classified by editorial lean
S
New York Times/Siena Polls in Alaska, Iowa, North Carolina, and Ohio
N
Michael Whatley’s Michigan roots largely disappear from his bio as he runs for Senate in North Carolina
S
Survey finds Roy Cooper continues to hold double digit lead in N.C. Senate race
W
New poll shows Roy Cooper leading Michael Whatley by 14 points in North Carolina US Senate race
W
Poll shows Cooper leading Whatley by wide margin in NC Senate race
C
Roy Cooper leads Michael Whatley by 14 points in new NC Senate race poll
N
North Carolina U.S. Senate Election 2026: Latest Polls
T
Election 2026: No change in Cooper’s 14-point lead in Catawba poll
N
Roy Cooper’s Chances of Beating Michael Whatley in North Carolina—Polls
C
New NC poll shows Roy Cooper and other Democrats gaining big ground in midterms | Opinion
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Verification trail
Polls verified0 / 2deterministic
Polls flagged—none
Markets ingested4 platformsupdated 11h ago
FEC filingssyncedcommittee + IE · 2026-07-03
Endorsements57 totalWikipedia scrape
News coverage12 / 30dGoogle News
Method · bounds + percentage totals + date-order checks