Reposting from the last weekly thread: I’m very interested in NC’s US Senate election in 2026. Cooper seems more likely to run now than before this year’s election, but I’m also interested in our backups: Wiley Nickel is definitely running if Cooper doesn’t, but he might even try to run anyways. Personally, if Cooper sits it out, I’d pre…
Reposting from the last weekly thread: I’m very interested in NC’s US Senate election in 2026. Cooper seems more likely to run now than before this year’s election, but I’m also interested in our backups: Wiley Nickel is definitely running if Cooper doesn’t, but he might even try to run anyways. Personally, if Cooper sits it out, I’d prefer Jeff Jackson take a shot at it. However, I see him as more likely to run against Budd in ‘28.
Mecklenburg and Cabarrus Counties’ municipal elections next year and the General Assembly races in 2026 are also high priorities. As a local Democratic Party officer, the North Meck towns are important to me—we just took total control in Huntersville and have held Davidson for some time. Cornelius continues to be difficult, though. Our NC house district, HD98 flipped to the Dems by ~5%. Christy Clark (now Huntersville’s Mayor) won in ‘18 by a few hundred votes and John Bradford regained it in ‘20 by ~2000, before defeating her in ‘22 by ~650 (I managed her campaign that year).
Charlotte is safe for Dems, but City Councilman Tariq Bokhari (R) is likely to face his toughest race yet in the affluent District 6 now that Trump is back in office.
Roy Cooper will be 69 years old in 2026. I seriously wish he would not run.
Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate either but even so I would prefer if he was even 10 years younger. He won't be a very inspiring candidate.
I'm possibly the poster-child of arguing that we need younger candidates across the board. Yet, it is important to know when that doesn't apply. Cooper would be our strongest candidate by a clear margin. He would be older but not so old as to be unable to do the job; he could definitely handle at least one term in the senate and very likely could handle two. This isn't like Welch becoming a freshman senator at 75 in one of the bluest states in the country.
I'm fully on board with wanting younger candidates in general, but it's important for us to know when to make exceptions.
there's also a difference between the Senate and the Presidency. The actual workload for a Senator is not that intense and a healthy 80 year old can handle it. That's largely untrue of 80 year old Presidents, or Governors and CEOs for that matter.
Have you all noticed what Biden's been doing since the election? Contrary to how he seemed in and in some cases after the debate, his actions seem to show that he is really on top of things in terms of policy and government administration, and he's continued to do great things for the American people and American interests and not succumb to bitterness or apathy. Public perceptions and doubts about how he might have done as an 86-year-old shouldn't cloud these points.
yeah I think that's totally fair, and I think he was probably up to doing another four years. But the rigors of his presidency specifically clearly took a huge toll on him, and a 70 year old would've been much better able to handle them than an 80 year old, let alone a 50 or 60 year old. Covid, recession, inflation, ukraine, Gaza, January 6th, a difficult reelection all come together to be a particularly brutal four year stretch. Probably the most challenging since FDR, especially when accounting for how duplicitous his opposition was about every single issue. Plus running for President and being President are two different things.
none of our senate candidates this year were "inspiring candidates". It really doesn't matter, he's a popular two term governor and has won six times statewide. He could serve two terms and be younger than Trump will be at the end of his presidency or than Biden is now. We don't need to overlearn the lessons of the last four years.
John Hickenlooper was around the same age as Roy Cooper when he ran for the Senate in 2020 and unseated Cory Gardner in the CO-SEN race. He had served as Governor of Colorado for two terms prior to being in the Senate.
Hickerlooper unseated Gardner by close to 10% points (9.3% to be exact). That's appropriate considering how much CO as a state has moved to the left since then.
"Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate..."
This has only been true for Democratic Governors who run for Senate in solidly red states or Republican Governors who run for Senate in solidly blue states. North Carolina is not solidly red at the federal level, and we won six statewide offices this year (Governor, LG, AG, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and a state Supreme Court seat).
Whatever happened to Larry.... who beat Robin .... of Belk's fame? Did he go back to teaching or is he a lobbyist now? Would be nice if the research park in Kannapolis turned Kannapolis and Concord blue.
Larry Kissell? He’s been out of office for 12 years and doesn’t have a great reputation in NC Dem circles. We have a good bench of current and recent office holders, including in Cabarrus county—we really don’t need to go back.
I was just curious, not suggesting we dig him up. More of a WATN question. We lived in Kannapolis for awhile. I don't recall Dems having much traction there. Was surprised when he won. Not surprised when he lost.
I've gotten two mailings (I live in Nickel's old district) in the past 4-6 weeks. Every indication is that he's running, and is reasonably sure Gov. Cooper will not.
Cooper hasn't grown fonder of Washington, DC (or big cities in general) as he's gotten older, I think is safe to presume.
He at the very least didn't shut down the idea. This was published yesterday.
"“I’m going to take the next two months and not make any decisions about going forward. I’ve been in public service a while. I’m going to take some time to see what the next chapter is. For me, I want to continue to make a difference,” Cooper told The N&O in mid-December. And, (running for Senate) “will be one of the things I look at as a potential.”
Next time I am in the office, I will try to run down one of my lobbyist buddies (one for each side of the aisle, they both voted for Stein, though) and see if there's anything to it. They always have told me unequivaocally that Cooper would never "go national."
Yep. He was the one left without a "chair" after all that (Jeff Jackson went for AG, Rachel Hunt kept the LG lane), so I expect all the normies had a deal to let him basically coast to Senate nomination.
My working theory for the Cooper thing is that he's freezing donors for a few months, allowing Nickel to consolidate his position.
Nickel is basically "generic NC Democrat" so he will stand or fall based on the overall political environment in 2026.
He may be "generic NC Dem" but he has a great and memorable name. "Wiley Nickel" is a much more interesting name than "Jeff Jackson" though of course I wish them both success. I have supported Jeff with small donations since I started reading his emails about his experiences in Congress. The main thing I know about Wiley Nickel is that I guessed wrong in the babka contest two years ago and was pleasantly surprised that he won.
Reposting from the last weekly thread: I’m very interested in NC’s US Senate election in 2026. Cooper seems more likely to run now than before this year’s election, but I’m also interested in our backups: Wiley Nickel is definitely running if Cooper doesn’t, but he might even try to run anyways. Personally, if Cooper sits it out, I’d prefer Jeff Jackson take a shot at it. However, I see him as more likely to run against Budd in ‘28.
Mecklenburg and Cabarrus Counties’ municipal elections next year and the General Assembly races in 2026 are also high priorities. As a local Democratic Party officer, the North Meck towns are important to me—we just took total control in Huntersville and have held Davidson for some time. Cornelius continues to be difficult, though. Our NC house district, HD98 flipped to the Dems by ~5%. Christy Clark (now Huntersville’s Mayor) won in ‘18 by a few hundred votes and John Bradford regained it in ‘20 by ~2000, before defeating her in ‘22 by ~650 (I managed her campaign that year).
Charlotte is safe for Dems, but City Councilman Tariq Bokhari (R) is likely to face his toughest race yet in the affluent District 6 now that Trump is back in office.
Roy Cooper will be 69 years old in 2026. I seriously wish he would not run.
Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate either but even so I would prefer if he was even 10 years younger. He won't be a very inspiring candidate.
Nonsense; Cooper is clearly our best available candidate
I'm possibly the poster-child of arguing that we need younger candidates across the board. Yet, it is important to know when that doesn't apply. Cooper would be our strongest candidate by a clear margin. He would be older but not so old as to be unable to do the job; he could definitely handle at least one term in the senate and very likely could handle two. This isn't like Welch becoming a freshman senator at 75 in one of the bluest states in the country.
I'm fully on board with wanting younger candidates in general, but it's important for us to know when to make exceptions.
there's also a difference between the Senate and the Presidency. The actual workload for a Senator is not that intense and a healthy 80 year old can handle it. That's largely untrue of 80 year old Presidents, or Governors and CEOs for that matter.
Have you all noticed what Biden's been doing since the election? Contrary to how he seemed in and in some cases after the debate, his actions seem to show that he is really on top of things in terms of policy and government administration, and he's continued to do great things for the American people and American interests and not succumb to bitterness or apathy. Public perceptions and doubts about how he might have done as an 86-year-old shouldn't cloud these points.
yeah I think that's totally fair, and I think he was probably up to doing another four years. But the rigors of his presidency specifically clearly took a huge toll on him, and a 70 year old would've been much better able to handle them than an 80 year old, let alone a 50 or 60 year old. Covid, recession, inflation, ukraine, Gaza, January 6th, a difficult reelection all come together to be a particularly brutal four year stretch. Probably the most challenging since FDR, especially when accounting for how duplicitous his opposition was about every single issue. Plus running for President and being President are two different things.
They certainly are. I think LBJ was president during very difficult times, though partly of his own making.
none of our senate candidates this year were "inspiring candidates". It really doesn't matter, he's a popular two term governor and has won six times statewide. He could serve two terms and be younger than Trump will be at the end of his presidency or than Biden is now. We don't need to overlearn the lessons of the last four years.
John Hickenlooper was around the same age as Roy Cooper when he ran for the Senate in 2020 and unseated Cory Gardner in the CO-SEN race. He had served as Governor of Colorado for two terms prior to being in the Senate.
Hickerlooper unseated Gardner by close to 10% points (9.3% to be exact). That's appropriate considering how much CO as a state has moved to the left since then.
69 is young for a new Senator these days, could get 2 terms out of him!!
💙🇺🇲
"Governors do not have a great track record running for Senate..."
This has only been true for Democratic Governors who run for Senate in solidly red states or Republican Governors who run for Senate in solidly blue states. North Carolina is not solidly red at the federal level, and we won six statewide offices this year (Governor, LG, AG, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and a state Supreme Court seat).
We are in a crisis now. We need our best candidates now. We can worry about 2032 if and when we make it that far.
Whatever happened to Larry.... who beat Robin .... of Belk's fame? Did he go back to teaching or is he a lobbyist now? Would be nice if the research park in Kannapolis turned Kannapolis and Concord blue.
Larry Kissell? He’s been out of office for 12 years and doesn’t have a great reputation in NC Dem circles. We have a good bench of current and recent office holders, including in Cabarrus county—we really don’t need to go back.
Plus he didn’t even vote for Obamacare.
I was just curious, not suggesting we dig him up. More of a WATN question. We lived in Kannapolis for awhile. I don't recall Dems having much traction there. Was surprised when he won. Not surprised when he lost.
Speaking as a North Carolinian - at least 90% likely that Nickel runs and the rest of the "normie lane" stands down for him.
If Cooper doesn't run Nickel seems like a good choice has experience running in a swing seat in 2022.
I've gotten two mailings (I live in Nickel's old district) in the past 4-6 weeks. Every indication is that he's running, and is reasonably sure Gov. Cooper will not.
Cooper hasn't grown fonder of Washington, DC (or big cities in general) as he's gotten older, I think is safe to presume.
He at the very least didn't shut down the idea. This was published yesterday.
"“I’m going to take the next two months and not make any decisions about going forward. I’ve been in public service a while. I’m going to take some time to see what the next chapter is. For me, I want to continue to make a difference,” Cooper told The N&O in mid-December. And, (running for Senate) “will be one of the things I look at as a potential.”
Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article297315994.html#storylink=cpy
Next time I am in the office, I will try to run down one of my lobbyist buddies (one for each side of the aisle, they both voted for Stein, though) and see if there's anything to it. They always have told me unequivaocally that Cooper would never "go national."
Who is Nickel?
Rep. Wiley Nickel, who was elected two years ago and was screwed out of a second term by unneeded GOP redistricting.
Yep. He was the one left without a "chair" after all that (Jeff Jackson went for AG, Rachel Hunt kept the LG lane), so I expect all the normies had a deal to let him basically coast to Senate nomination.
My working theory for the Cooper thing is that he's freezing donors for a few months, allowing Nickel to consolidate his position.
Nickel is basically "generic NC Democrat" so he will stand or fall based on the overall political environment in 2026.
He may be "generic NC Dem" but he has a great and memorable name. "Wiley Nickel" is a much more interesting name than "Jeff Jackson" though of course I wish them both success. I have supported Jeff with small donations since I started reading his emails about his experiences in Congress. The main thing I know about Wiley Nickel is that I guessed wrong in the babka contest two years ago and was pleasantly surprised that he won.