Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper hinted that he intends to run for the open U.S. Senate seat in his state next year, making the suggestion at the North Carolina Democratic Party's annual "Unity Dinner" on Saturday night, The Hill reported.
"Everybody who's planning to run for office next year, please stand up," Cooper told the crowd, before pausing and adding, "I'm not sitting down, am I?"
WHQR reported that the audience of some 1,200 people immediately broke into a chant of "Run, Roy, run."
Cooper, who was elected to two terms as the state's governor and four terms as its attorney general, is widely expected to seek the U.S. Senate seat currently held by two-term Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican who announced he would not run for reelection after voting against President Donald Trump's One, Big Beautiful Bill.
This comes as former Democrat Rep. Wiley Nickel, who entered the Senate race earlier this year after his House district was redrawn, started exploring a bid instead for district attorney in Wake County, according to Semafor.
On the GOP side, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley is running for the Senate seat and has received an endorsement from Trump, according to The Hill.
At the Unity Dinner fundraiser, Cooper harshly criticized Republicans, saying that "they are running up our debt, they are disrespecting our veterans, they are cutting help for the hungry, and they're ripping away healthcare from millions of people, all to give tax breaks to the millionaires and billionaires. And it's not right," according to WHQR.
He urged Democrats not to just sit by, despite the GOP controlling the White House, both chambers of Congress, and U.S. Supreme Court.
"Right now, we're living in a time in this country, I think, that is as fragile as I can remember," Cooper said. "But this beautiful experiment we call democracy, it only works when we work for it. Which means that everybody needs to stay engaged and find a way to do something."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.