“Roy Cooper raised $14.5 million during the first 65 days of his campaign — a record-breaking total for a Senate challenger in their first fundraising quarter in one of the most competitive races of 2026,” Politico reports.

“The Republican National Committee has green-lit early party aid for Michael Whatley as he campaigns for an open, battleground Senate seat in North Carolina — giving the former national party chair access to help that’s rarely granted to nonincumbents who have yet to win their primaries,” NBC News reports.

A new Emerson College poll in North Carolina found Roy Cooper (D) leading Michael Whatley (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 41% with 12% undecided.

“Roy Cooper raised $3.4 million in the first 24 hours of his Senate campaign — a record-breaking sum for the former North Carolina governor in one of the most competitive upcoming Senate races,” Politico reports.

“The fundraising haul includes more than $2.6 million raised directly to Cooper’s campaign account, with 95 percent of those donations totaling $100 or less, according to his team.”

Former Gov. Roy Cooper officially entered the race for North Carolina’s Senate seat today via a post on social media.

RNC Chair Michael Whatley will run for Senate in North Carolina with Donald Trump’s blessing after the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, opted not to seek the seat, Politico reports.

“Roy Cooper is expected to announce his campaign for the North Carolina Senate as soon as Monday,” Politico reports.

“The popular, former two-term governor’s entrance into the Senate race — for a seat Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is leaving open with his announcement last month that he won’t seek reelection — is likely to transform the Senate race into the most competitive of 2026.”

Rep. Don Davis (D-NC) is exploring a run for the North Carolina Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Politico reports.

“North Carolina Democrats are getting closer to the gift they’ve have been asking for all year, with former Gov. Roy Cooper (D) leaning toward a Senate run in the state President Trump has won three times,” Axios reports.

“The field is essentially frozen until Cooper and Lara Trump (R), the president’s daughter-in-law, decide if they want to be their party’s nominees.”

Cook Political Report: “The surprise move from Tillis moves this race into the Toss Up category and officially makes the Tar Heel State Democrats’ top pickup opportunity. The contest was already edging in this direction, but we had been awaiting former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s decision about whether to challenge Tillis.”

“The vulnerability of this seat, however, does not alter the overall Senate math for 2026. Even if Democrats were to win here in 2026, they’d still need to flip three more seats, including at least two in deep red states, in order to win a bare majority.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who has represented North Carolina in Washington for a decade and has clashed with President Donald Trump as recently as Saturday, announced Sunday he will not seek reelection, the Raleigh News and Observer reports.

Politico: “Tillis made the announcement after voting ‘no’ on a procedural vote to advance President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ — the cornerstone of his domestic policy agenda. Trump subsequently attacked Tillis in a series of social media posts.”

Axios: Trump goes scorched earth on Thom Tillis over “big, beautiful bill.”

Rep. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has hired President Trump’s pollster Tony Fabrizio for his reelection bid as he faces blowback from Trump Republicans and a GOP primary challenge, Punchbowl News reports.

“Democrats acknowledge Roy Cooper as their strongest potential candidate to run for Senate in North Carolina in 2026,” NOTUS reports.

“Yet with the former governor undecided and the odds of him launching a bid still being around fifty-fifty, some Democrats are at least starting to reckon with the question: If not Cooper, then who?”

“Outgoing North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), who lost his bid for governor this month, said he is still deciding what his next step will be,” WRAL reports.

“But the Republican said another run for office — including the U.S. Senate in 2026 — is unlikely.”

Said Robinson: “That is not on my radar at all. Running for office is not on my radar at all. Certainly not.”

NOTUS: “More than any other Senate Republican, the North Carolina lawmaker is stuck between the demands of a restive MAGA base and an expected reelection campaign in 2026 in which Democrats consider him a top electoral target.”

“Vote against a cadre of Trump’s most controversial picks — including Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Health and Human Services Department and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence — and Tillis risks a serious primary challenge; support all of them, and he could be vulnerable to a political backlash that gives Democrats a chance to win his seat.”

While appearing alongside North Carolina Senate candidate Ted Budd on Fox News, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tried to portray donations to Cheri Beasley, Budd’s Democratic opponent, as suspicious.

Said Graham: “She raised $13 million in the last quarter. Ted raised four. From October 1 to October 19, the last reporting period, she raised 5. Ted raised one-and-a-half. I don’t know where all this money comes from, Sean.”

He added: “I just don’t believe this is legit—on the up and up.”

A new Marist poll finds Ted Budd (R) leading Cheri Beasley (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 45%.