Roy Cooper is the kind of gold-plated candidate Democrats are desperate to recruit for next year’s Senate races: He’s a popular two-term governor with a record of winning over Republican voters and running disciplined campaigns.
In this election cycle for Senate Democrats, however, even getting the best recruits doesn’t guarantee victory.
Cooper ended months of speculation about his future Monday when he announced that he would run for North Carolina’s open Senate seat, extending a political career that has seen him hold statewide office almost every year this century. He’ll seek the seat held by the retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who was expected to face Cooper in a general election until suddenly announcing in June that he would not seek re-election.