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.
"тАЬIтАЩm going to take the next two months and not make any decisions about going forward. IтАЩve been in public service a while. IтАЩm going to take some time to see what the next chapter is. For me, I want to continue to make a difference,тАЭ Cooper told The N&O in mid-December. And, (running for Senate) тАЬwill be one of the things I look at as a potential.тАЭ
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.
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.
"тАЬIтАЩm going to take the next two months and not make any decisions about going forward. IтАЩve been in public service a while. IтАЩm going to take some time to see what the next chapter is. For me, I want to continue to make a difference,тАЭ Cooper told The N&O in mid-December. And, (running for Senate) тАЬwill be one of the things I look at as a potential.тАЭ
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.