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North Carolina 2026 Poll: Cooper Starts US Senate Race with Six-Point Lead
Emerson College Polling ^ | 8/1/2025 | NA

Posted on 08/01/2025 5:52:37 AM PDT by Redmen4ever

The first Emerson College Polling survey of the 2026 U.S. Senate race in North Carolina finds former Governor Roy Cooper starting the race with a six-point edge on Republican National Committee Chair, Michael Whatley, 47% to 41%, with 12% undecided.

(Excerpt) Read more at emersoncollegepolling.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: cooper; nc; senate; whatley
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Roy Cooper, the Democrat, is a former two-term Governor. He won in 2016 (49.0 to 48.8) and 2020 (51.5 to 47.0) while Trump was winning the state (49.8 to 46.2 in '16 and 49.9 to 48.6 in '20). Democrats haven't won a statewide federal race in North Carolina since 2004. Democrats have high hopes to flip the North Carolina Senate seat next year (based on Cooper's advantages in name recognition and job approval during his two terms as Governor), but Senate races are different from Governor races.
1 posted on 08/01/2025 5:52:37 AM PDT by Redmen4ever
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To: Redmen4ever

I figured it would be worse, actually.


2 posted on 08/01/2025 5:56:11 AM PDT by hcmama
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To: Redmen4ever

I can’t remember ever seeing an Emerson College Poll that favored a Republican. Yet the Democrats win the local/state elections somehow in N.C.


3 posted on 08/01/2025 5:59:33 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: Redmen4ever

That is a bad number for Cooper, very bad.


4 posted on 08/01/2025 6:02:06 AM PDT by jimfree (My 22 y/o granddaughter continues to have more quality exec experience than Joe Biden.)
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To: Redmen4ever

Too many Yankee transplants in the tar heel state.


5 posted on 08/01/2025 6:03:37 AM PDT by 38special (I should've said something earlier )
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To: Robert DeLong

https://www.realclearpolling.com/latest-polls/president/general-election


6 posted on 08/01/2025 6:05:26 AM PDT by Redmen4ever
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To: Redmen4ever

I wanted Lara Trump for the seat in North Carolina.


7 posted on 08/01/2025 6:09:58 AM PDT by rebel25 (No creative or funny tag line available now; please check again later...)
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To: jimfree

Interesting. What do you think it should be?


8 posted on 08/01/2025 6:20:12 AM PDT by EliRoom8
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To: EliRoom8

We’ll lose it. The good news for Whatley is that he won’t go down and take others with him as republicans are prone to do with their stupid mistakes.

Lara running would have been too big of a gamble. A loss would damage the Trump name as losers.

The race will be high profile and expensive. The rats don’t have that much to get excited about.


9 posted on 08/01/2025 6:27:58 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: EliRoom8

I would have thought him up 10 or more. Mr Chairman is in good shape for 15 months prior to the election.


10 posted on 08/01/2025 6:29:30 AM PDT by jimfree (My 22 y/o granddaughter continues to have more quality exec experience than Joe Biden.)
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To: 38special

And foreigners


11 posted on 08/01/2025 6:35:44 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s, you weren't really there)
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To: Redmen4ever

The Republicans don’t have a candidate yet. I wouldn’t put any stock in this.


12 posted on 08/01/2025 6:42:51 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: jimfree
"That is a bad number for Cooper, very bad."

Not really, but there's also a poll out from something called Victory Insights which, as long as you count "leaners" and engage some friendly rounding, shows a suprising 44%-44% tie. All anyone can say at this point is: it will be close (barring another Mark Robinson-type debacle) as it always is in North Carolina statewide elections these days.

https://irp.cdn-website.com/07e08705/files/uploaded/PollSummary_NC-US-Senate_07-31-2025.pdf

13 posted on 08/01/2025 6:53:54 AM PDT by PermaRag (Facts, context, and more facts)
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To: rebel25

Cooper was why Lara didn’t run. Her chances of beating him were not good. Again the women vote is the problem.


14 posted on 08/01/2025 6:57:28 AM PDT by iamgalt
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To: Robert DeLong
Yet the Democrats win the local/state elections somehow in N.C.

The Republicans have been winning national races for a while (President/Senate).

The streak is coming to an end with Cooper's victory in 2026.

15 posted on 08/01/2025 7:00:10 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: Robert DeLong

“Yet the Democrats win the local/state elections somehow in N.C.”

Carpetbaggers from up North.


16 posted on 08/01/2025 7:01:18 AM PDT by dljordan (The Rewards of Tolerance are Treachery and Betrayal)
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To: DIRTYSECRET
Lara running would have been too big of a gamble. A loss would damage the Trump name as losers.

Roy Cooper is a rarity for the Democratic Party. He's a throwback to what the Democrats used to be. Reminds you of Bill Clinton except that Roy is not a sleazebag.

If the party decides to run more candidates like Roy Cooper, they'll seize control of Congress by now. But the Progressives in the party are not in favor of that. They want to double down on the 20% stuff.

17 posted on 08/01/2025 7:03:16 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: hcmama

“I figured it would be worse, actually.”

ditto ...


18 posted on 08/01/2025 7:08:56 AM PDT by catnipman ((A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil))
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To: hcmama

Seriously. I’m only an observer of NC politics from afar, but I take great heart that he isn’t up +15 or 20, so beloved is he, according to the press


19 posted on 08/01/2025 7:27:39 AM PDT by j.havenfarm (24 years on Free Republic, 12/10/24! More than 10,500 replies and still not shutting up!)
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To: Redmen4ever

You must remember that North Carolina elections are generally pretty tight. Democratic political machines in the larger cities are likely engaging in ballot fraud. The Department of Justice must focus on this issue in both November of this year and in 2026. If cheating can be stopped or at least curtailed, there would be fewer Democratic victories in purple states.


20 posted on 08/01/2025 7:28:39 AM PDT by Wallace T.
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