Democrat Wiley Nickel is expected to suspend his campaign for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat and endorse former Gov. Roy Cooper in the race, people directly familiar with Nickel’s plans told WRAL on Friday.
Nickel, a former U.S. congressman from Wake County, is expected to make the endorsement early next week. He is expected to instead pursue the Wake County district attorney seat being vacated by Democrat Lorrin Freeman, people familiar with Nickel’s plans told WRAL. Freeman, who has held the office for more than a decade, announced in May that she won’t seek reelection in 2026.
The move clears the Democratic field for Cooper, who is expected to officially announce his campaign in the coming days. He instantly becomes the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Cooper, who was considered a considerable favorite over Nickel, is expected to face a Republican heavyweight in the 2026 general election.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who led the North Carolina Republican Party for five years, is expected to announce his candidacy for the seat next week, people familiar with his plans told WRAL on Friday. He would join a primary field that includes former lieutenant governor candidate Andy Nilsson and former congressional candidate Don Brown. President Donald Trump on Thursday endorsed Whatley in the race, which is expected to be one of the most expensive in the nation.
Nickel’s move helps the party save money, said David McLennan, a political analyst at Meredith College in Raleigh. “Neither party wants a knock-down, drag-out primary fight because that’s expensive,” McLennan said. It causes problems within the party, and so the sooner they can lock down their presumptive nominees, the better off they’ll be.”
Nickel declined to comment on Friday. He initially announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate seat in 2024. The Cary attorney was a state senator before running for an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 representing parts of Wake, Johnston, Harnett and Wayne counties.
His congressional race was one of the most competitive in the nation. The district leaned Republican, but Nickel managed to defeat Trump-backed Republican Bo Hines. His ability to win in a Republican district emboldened him to seek the Senate seat.
Nickel had been among the more progressive Democrats in the state legislature. But during his single term in Congress, he aligned himself with the centrist wing of the party. Nickel chose not to run for reelection to his House seat in 2024 after Republican state lawmakers redrew his district from a tossup to one that more strongly favored a GOP candidate.
Cooper vs. Whatley?
Despite not having officially entered the race, Cooper and Whatley are seen by political analysts as the frontrunners for their parties’ nominations.
Republicans are seeking to retain the seat that incumbent Republican U.S. Sen Thom Tillis will vacate at the end of his term. Democrats need to flip at least four seats during the 2026 elections to regain control of the chamber for the last two years of the Trump administration.
Cooper — a two-term governor who also served in the state legislature and as attorney general — is a prolific fundraiser and hasn’t lost an election in a political career dating to the mid-1980s. The Democrat managed to win North Carolina and remain popular in polls in years when Trump won the state’s electoral college votes — a performance that put Cooper on the running-mate short list for Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential run.
Whatley has never sought elected office, but he has been an ally of Trump for years and Republican insiders say he’s well-equipped to run for office because of his familiarity with the state and the GOP’s political apparatus in North Carolina. That could prove useful in next year’s elections. Historically, the political party that controls Washington struggles to generate turnout in midterm elections.
Whatley earned Trump’s endorsement after his daughter-in-law, Wilmington native Lara Trump, said she wouldn’t seek the seat. The Trump name has resonated with the party’s base in the state. Without Lara Trump in the race, Republican strategists see Whatley is seen as a fitting GOP substitute because he has vocally backed the president’s agenda.
“Mike would make an unbelievable senator from North Carolina. He is fantastic at everything he does,” Trump said in a lengthy social media post that praised Whatley for supporting the president’s policy priorities.
A Cooper spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Whatley also hasn’t responded to WRAL’s requests for comment.
Tillis last month said he wouldn’t seek reelection after opposing Trump-backed legislation — the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill — because it would end Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians. His opposition widened a rift between Tillis and Trump. After Trump said he would consider endorsing other Republicans for the seat, Tillis ended his reelection plans.
Whatley’s strength is as an insider — a strategist, a fundraiser — who has deep relationships with the party’s powerbrokers, McLennan said. But he doesn’t have experience as a candidate himself. “Cooper’s a seasoned veteran with lots of connections, money, that sort of thing,” McLennan said. “So right now, if those are the two finalists for the Senate position, you’d have to say Cooper’s a slight favorite in a very divided state.”
Nickel has previously painted Whatley as a hard-line conservative for pushing right-wing policies without regard for working families. “Whatley wouldn’t represent North Carolina,” Nickel said in a statement Thursday. “He’d be a rubber stamp for Trump’s every whim.”
Whatley’s strength is as an insider — a strategist, a fundraiser — who has deep relationships with the party’s powerbrokers, said McLennan, the Meredith College professor. But his limited experience as a candidate himself could be a hindrance.
“Cooper’s a seasoned veteran with lots of connections, money, that sort of thing,” McLennan said. “So right now, if those are the two finalists for the Senate position, you’d have to say Cooper’s a slight favorite in a very divided state.”
WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief Laura Leslie contributed.
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