CHARLOTTE — Former Gov. Roy Cooper will be the next U.S. Senator for North Carolina.
The Associated Press called the race just after North Carolina released the first batch of election results at about 8:20 p.m. The AP declared Cooper the winner over Republican candidate Michael Whatley.
This is a developing story and will be updated. Check back on WSOCTV.com for updates.
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EARLIER
Michael Whatley and Roy Cooper are in the running for outgoing Senator Thom Tillis’s seat, and Tuesday night will reveal the result after a contentious campaign between the two candidates.
In attack ads that blanketed the airwaves over the summer, Whatley accused Cooper of releasing thousands of prisoners; Cooper, meanwhile, blasted Whatley for a misleading attack ad and for hiring a convicted child sex offender to be on his campaign team.
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Now, eyes across the nation are on North Carolina as the race for Tillis’ seat could determine control of the U.S. Senate.
Whatley on the campaign trail
Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley is holding his election night watch party at the Loray Mill Event Center in Gastonia. This race is one of the most competitive in the country.
We caught up with Whatley at the National Guard Armory in Gastonia, as he greeted voters, and made his final pitch for their vote. He did the same this morning in Johnston County.
Whatley laid out the stakes he sees in this race.
“When you think about the stakes of this election, it comes down to whether America is going to be a strong country or not, and when America is a weak country, the world is a far more dangerous place, so you think about our economy, you think about our borders, you think about our national security posture, we need to be a strong country, and it’s going to be very hard. President Trump to work on those issues that really truly matter for every state, including North Carolina, with a Democratic House and Democratic Senate,” Whatley said.
Cooper looks to break Democratic losing streak
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No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in North Carolina since 2008, when the late Kay Hagan won. Cooper is trying to break that streak.
Everyone knows former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, and for better or worse, has an opinion on him. So his campaign looked a lot different than other Democratic campaigns.
He never held any huge rallies, and national Democratic figures stayed far away.
Whatley has done pretty much the opposite. This is a state President Donald Trump has won every election in, and Whatley appeared with the president and vice president as much as possible.
As the campaign entered its final days, both candidates stayed laser-focused on affordability.
Cooper’s campaign promised to make stuff cost less, while Whatley promised to push policies that will let you make more and keep more.
Cooper said that he believes the Senate should play an important role in President Donald Trump’s agenda.
“I think the last two years of this president’s term, there will be some Republican senators, particularly those who have gotten reelected, who are ready to bring back the checks and balances that the framers of the Constitution intended,” Cooper said.
Cooper’s election night party is in Raleigh.