Roy Cooper
October 6, 2026 · Newsletter
Washington could use a little North Carolina common sense
Midterms are a crucial opportunity for all of us to look inwards and think about how our vote can help future generations.
While my opponent has doubled down on the war in Iran, on tariffs and policies that take money out of the pockets of North Carolinians, I’m focused on making life easier for hardworking people that deserve a change.
As I told Lawrence on MS NOW, Washington could use a little North Carolina common sense. We have to make sure our neighbors are voting, our co-workers are voting and our family members are voting, because this is a critical time in the history of our country. If you’re ready to flip the Senate and drain the swamp in Washington, I hope you’ll consider chipping in a few dollars and signing up to volunteer. Every effort counts.
P.S. You can watch the full interview here and read the transcript below.
Gov. Cooper: I appreciate your optimism, and I’m hopeful that we can win this race and that we can take back the Senate and take back the House. We need a course correction for our country. But we know that there is a lot of big money out there, and there is a culture of DC insiders that are fueled by big money and my opponent, Michael Whatley, has been one of them for years. A lobbyist for utility companies and big oil companies.
And the thing about it is, he has continued to do and say whatever Donald Trump has told him to do and say, regardless of whether it’s good for the people of North Carolina. So he has doubled down on the tariffs. He has doubled down on the war in Iran. He has cheered on all of these policies. And the thing about it is, he owns the stock. He owns the individual stocks of all of these companies that he’s cheering for. When he cheers on the war in Iran, oil stocks go up, money goes out of the pockets of people of North Carolina and into his. When utility companies raise their rates, he owns their stock, money goes out of the pockets of the people of North Carolina and into his. And the thing about it is that they are fueling these campaigns. People can go to roycooper.com and help us out.
You worry about negative ads and deceptive ads that continue to lie over and over and over again. You worry about people believing it. But I’m going to continue to hope that we can get our message out and to make sure that we are setting the record straight because people know how they feel, and they know this war in Iran is driving up gas prices. They know that these tariffs are causing them to pay more at the grocery store and whenever they buy something. And connecting those dots is really important for us right now.
Lawrence O’Donnell: One thing about both you and Sherrod Brown is that your states know you. They know you both. They’ve elected you statewide before: Sherrod Brown in Ohio, you in North Carolina. Do you think that helps you survive just this carpet bombing of negative ads against you?
Gov. Cooper: That’s a really good point, Lawrence. When I left the Governor’s office, I thought I might do something else. But then, when this administration took root and I saw things happening almost every single day that reached a new level of chaos, any one of which we could talk about for hours, I knew that I needed to step up and run for this Senate seat, because I knew how much money was going to come down.
And look, I’m going to be first in line to try and overturn Citizens United. We have to do that. But I knew that this was going to happen. I also knew that the people of North Carolina. I developed some trust with them, and I was hoping that it would take them a long time to believe negative ads that were not true, and hopefully many of them would never believe it. And I thought that that would give me an advantage, that I had the best chance to win. We haven’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in almost two decades, and we’ve only elected two Democrats in almost 40 years. So that’s one of the reasons why I stepped up because I knew that a lot of people were being left behind.
I saw this Washington controlled by DC insiders. I believed that Washington could use a little North Carolina common sense. I knew how to work across the aisle and get things done. Expanded Medicaid in North Carolina, 640,000 new, better-paying jobs. And I can take those receipts to Washington, and I believe I can get things done. But we’ve got to get through this campaign, and we cannot stop. We all have to, across this country. We can’t sit back and smile about polling leads or dissatisfaction with the president. We have to run through the tape.
We have to make sure our neighbors are voting, our co-workers are voting, our family members are voting, because this is a critical time in the history of our country. And these midterms are a time when all of us can look inside ourselves and think this is something that I can do for future generations to make sure we make the change that we know we have to make right now.