Roy Cooper

Cooper was born on June 13, 1957, in Nashville, North Carolina, and raised in Nash County, the son of a teacher and a lawyer; he attended public schools, worked summers on the family tobacco farm and graduated from Northern Nash High School in 1975.[2][8] He earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1979, as a Morehead Scholar according to Wikipedia, and a J.D. from the UNC School of Law in 1982.[3][2][8]

Cooper practiced law in Rocky Mount, representing individuals and small businesses, and worked at his family law firm, Fields & Cooper, handling civil suits, personal injury cases and insurance defense.[2][3] Gov. Jim Hunt appointed him to the state goals and policy board before he held elected office.[3] He was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives from District 72 in 1986 and served until 1991, when he was appointed to the State Senate (District 10), where he served until 2001, including as Senate Majority Leader from 1997; his campaign says his legislative work included teacher pay, law enforcement and the state's first children's health insurance initiative.[3][2][8]

Cooper was elected attorney general in 2000 and re-elected in 2004, 2008 and 2012.[3] In April 2007, his office announced that it was dropping all charges against three former Duke lacrosse players, after the local district attorney had recused himself from the case.[9] Voters elected Cooper governor on November 8, 2016, defeating incumbent Pat McCrory, and re-elected him in 2020, and he left office on January 1, 2025.[3][2][8] His campaign credits him with securing a bipartisan agreement to expand Medicaid, which it says had brought health coverage to more than 650,000 North Carolinians by early 2025.[2] After leaving office he accepted a teaching position at Harvard University, according to Wikipedia.[8]

Cooper announced his Senate candidacy on July 28, 2025, for the seat Sen. Thom Tillis is leaving.[10][1] He and his wife Kristin raised three daughters in Rocky Mount, and he has taught Sunday school and tutored students in local public schools.[2][3] During the campaign, he emphasized lowering costs and his record as governor.[1][2][3] He won the November 3, 2026 general election with 58.7% of the vote to Michael Whatley's 39.1%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[4]