Democrats Flip North Carolina Senate Seat

North Carolina was the first Senate race to flip for Democrats. Former Governor Roy Cooper has defeated Michael Whatley, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. This is not a surprise result. Still, it’s a pretty big victory for the Democratic Party. There has not been a Democratic senator elected in North Carolina since 2008. Cooper had been steadily ahead of Whatley in the polls. And in fact, in recent weeks, Republicans had pulled money out of this race entirely to redirect it to other states where they had other more vulnerable Republican candidates on the ballot. Cooper was seen as one of the top recruits for Democrats across the country. He’d been a governor for two terms and had remained popular throughout his governorship, and it was his candidacy that gave them a real advantage in this state. This is one of four states, at least, the Democrats would need to flip in order to take a Senate majority next year.