Elections · U.S. Senate · North Carolina
2026 North Carolina Senate race
Roy Cooper (Democrat), Michael Whatley (Republican), Michael Dublin (Green) and Shannon Bray (Libertarian) are on the November 3, 2026 ballot for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, as recorded September 21, 2026.
The November ballot
Raised so far, filed with the FEC
Also in this race: Shannon Bray (Libertarian).
Official candidate list: North Carolina State Board of Elections. Faces and bars are the campaigns that hold the seat or have $25,000 raised or outside spending on file; being outside that group is a filing fact, not a mark. Not a prediction.
The seat
Open seat
No sitting member is on file for this seat.
How to vote in North Carolina
- General electionNovember 3, 2026
Register 25 days before, or same-day during the early-voting period in person.
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How they won the primary
The primary · 827,755 votes
- Roy Cooper Won: 92.0% 761,345
- Justin Dues: 2.7% 22,295
- Marcus Williams: 2.5% 20,336
- Daryl Farrow: 1.2% 9,727
- Orrick Quick: 0.9% 7,275
1 more candidate in the full results at the source named below.
The primary · 627,404 votes
- Michael Whatley Won: 64.6% 405,140
- Don Brown: 15.6% 97,891
- Thomas Johnson: 5.7% 35,534
- Michele Morrow: 5.6% 35,065
- Elizabeth Temple: 3.8% 23,892
2 more candidates in the full results at the source named below.
Primary results as recorded October 12, 2026, ordered by votes. Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections official primary results data. A primary result is a recorded fact about a past contest, not a prediction of November.
The money on this race
- Raised by candidates
- $47M
- Outside money
- $65M
Outside money, for and against
Independent expenditures; direction is each filer's own declared filing. The other $73K of the race's $65M was spent on candidates not listed here. No outside money is on file for or against the other name on this ballot.
Where each candidate's money comes from
Small donors give $200 or less; PACs are political action committees. Shares of each candidate's own receipts on file with the FEC. Outside money is not part of these figures.
Other includes money transferred in from committees the candidate authorized, such as a joint fundraising committee, which reports its own donors to the FEC: Roy Cooper $20M, Michael Whatley $4.6M.
Who is spending on this race
The largest groups spending independently here, ranked; open a row for whose race the money went into.
Independent expenditures reported to the FEC; direction is each group's own declared filing.
Also filed for this seat
22 filedNot on the November ballot
- Wiley NickelDemocratWithdrew from the race.$3M
- Thom TillisRepublicanDid not seek re-election.$8.1M
- Don BrownRepublican$225K
- Brooks AgnewRepublican-
- Robert ColonDemocrat-
Primary candidates who did not advance, committees still on file, and candidacies that ended. Being here is a filing fact, not a mark against anyone.
Ballot status not confirmed
None of these has campaign money on file with the FEC.
Filed with the FEC for this seat. No source on record says whether they qualified for the November ballot: independent and minor-party candidates qualify through the state, often by petition, and the FEC does not track whether they did.
How this seat voted last time
R+1.7 in 2020
- Thom Tillis Won: 48.7%
- Cal Cunningham: 46.9%
5,474,952 votes for candidates. Other candidates and write-ins took the remaining 4.4%. A past result is a filed fact, not a prediction of November.
Certified returns via MIT Election Data and Science Lab, from the House Clerk's election statistics and state canvasses.
Candidates and financing from the FEC, public domain. Candidate totals are each campaign's latest FEC report, ending between December 31, 2025 and June 30, 2026. Outside money is the FEC's processed total of independent expenditures plus the 24- and 48-hour reports filed since each group's latest regular report. It covers each candidate's own campaign: the years since their previous federal election, up to the six their totals cover. Dataset built 2026-10-12. Nothing here is a forecast, a grade, or a ranking of candidates.