Roy Cooper flips North Carolina Senate seat for Democrats

Democrat Roy Cooper won North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday, defeating Republican Michael Whatley in a race that hands Democrats a crucial pickup as they try to reclaim control of the chamber. The Associated Press called the race at 8:23 p.m. EST. Cooper, a former governor and state attorney general, becomes the first Democrat elected to the Senate from North Carolina since 2008. The seat opened after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis chose not to run again. Whatley, a former state Republican chair and former Republican National Committee chair, had backing from President Donald Trump but trailed in polling as the race moved into its final weeks.