Roy Cooper

Roy Cooper was born June 13, 1957 and raised in Nash County, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a Morehead Scholarship and earned his law degree there, then practiced law in Rocky Mount. He served in the North Carolina House and the North Carolina Senate, where his campaign says he worked on teacher pay, law enforcement and the state's first children's health insurance initiative. He was elected attorney general of North Carolina in 2000 and served four consecutive terms. He was elected governor in 2016 and reelected in 2020, serving from January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2025, and was succeeded by Josh Stein. In 2026 Cooper ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. He won the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary against five other candidates and faces Republican Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman, in the November 3 general election.