North Carolina

North Carolina Senate 2026

Likely RGeneral

Open Seat

North Carolina's U.S. Senate seat is open after incumbent Thom Tillis chose not to seek re-election. It is expected to be among the more competitive Senate races on the map.

Primary resultCalled

Roy Cooper (D)Michael Whatley (R)

Called by NBC News, Washington Post · Mar 3, 2026 · unofficial

Polling below predates this result.

Roy Cooper

Former Governor of North Carolina

49.4%

Michael Whatley

Former Republican National Committee Chair

40.6%

Don Brown

Author and former Navy officer

9.6%

Richard Dansie

Republican candidate

2.0%

Michele Morrow

2024 GOP nominee for Superintendent

2.0%

Margot Dupre

Business owner

1.8%

Elizabeth Temple

Republican candidate

1.8%

Thomas Johnson

Republican candidate

1.4%

Daryl Farrow

Democratic candidate

—

Justin Dues

Democratic candidate

—

Robert Colon

Democratic candidate

—

Orrick Quick

Democratic candidate

—

Marcus Williams

Democratic candidate

—

Polling

Polling Average

Polling average as of May 18, 2026 · updated 23 days ago

Recent Polls(16)

Change Research

2026-05-18

n 957LVunrated

Cooper49%

Whatley42%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Harper Polling

2026-05-14

n 600LVunrated

Cooper50%

Whatley39%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Opinion Diagnostics

2026-04-29

n 830RVunrated

Cooper50%

Whatley41%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

High Point Univ.

2026-04-17

n 703LVunrated

Cooper50%

Whatley42%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Quantus Insights

2026-04-02

n 987LVunrated

Cooper49%

Whatley44%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Catawba College

2026-03-31

n 871LVunrated

Cooper48%

Whatley34%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Nexus/Strategic Partners Solutions

2026-03-27

n 800LVunrated

Cooper50%

Whatley32%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Harper Polling

2026-03-26

n 600LVunrated

Cooper49%

Whatley41%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Public Policy Polling

2026-03-16

n 556RVunrated

Cooper47%

Whatley44%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

High Point Univ.

2026-02-27

n 260LVunrated

Cooper—

Whatley38%

Brown12%

Dansie5%

Morrow2%

Dupre3%

Harper Polling

2026-02-26

n 600LVunrated

Cooper—

Whatley38%

Brown8%

Dansie0%

Morrow2%

Dupre1%

Change Research

2026-02-20

n 1,069RVunrated

Cooper50%

Whatley40%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Harper Polling

2025-11-13

n 600LVunrated

Cooper47%

Whatley39%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Harper Polling

2025-09-18

n 600LVunrated

Cooper46%

Whatley42%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

Emerson College

2025-08-01

n 1,000RVunrated

Cooper47%

Whatley41%

Brown—

Dansie—

Morrow—

Dupre—

			Pop	Cooper	Whatley	Brown	Dansie	Morrow	Dupre
2026-05-18	Change Researchunrated	957	LV	49%	42%	—	—	—	—
2026-05-14	Harper Pollingunrated	600	LV	50%	39%	—	—	—	—
2026-04-29	Opinion Diagnosticsunrated	830	RV	50%	41%	—	—	—	—
2026-04-17	High Point Univ.unrated	703	LV	50%	42%	—	—	—	—
2026-04-02	Quantus Insightsunrated	987	LV	49%	44%	—	—	—	—
2026-03-31	Catawba Collegeunrated	871	LV	48%	34%	—	—	—	—
2026-03-27	Nexus/Strategic Partners Solutionsunrated	800	LV	50%	32%	—	—	—	—
2026-03-26	Harper Pollingunrated	600	LV	49%	41%	—	—	—	—
2026-03-16	Public Policy Pollingunrated	556	RV	47%	44%	—	—	—	—
2026-02-27	High Point Univ.unrated	260	LV	—	38%	12%	5%	2%	3%
2026-02-26	Harper Pollingunrated	600	LV	—	38%	8%	0%	2%	1%
2026-02-20	Change Researchunrated	1,069	RV	50%	40%	—	—	—	—
2025-11-13	Harper Pollingunrated	600	LV	47%	39%	—	—	—	—
2025-09-18	Harper Pollingunrated	600	LV	46%	42%	—	—	—	—
2025-08-01	Emerson Collegeunrated	1,000	RV	47%	41%	—	—	—	—

Showing 15 most recent of 16 polls.

Prediction Markets

No prediction market data available