North Carolina U.S. Senate S-NC-2026 · Class 2 · Regular cycle

Open in research → Editorial as of Apr 22 · FEC through Mar 31
General 2026-11-03
R Primary 2026-03-03 (held)
Runoff 2026-05-12 (held)
Filing Deadline 2025-12-19 (held)
Cook Political Report
Lean D
As of date pending
Sabato's Crystal Ball
Toss Up
As of Mar 4, 2026
Polymarket
R 17¢
D 81¢
Refreshed today
R+1
Cook PVI
Incumbent
Thom Tillis
Republican · Retiring
▸ Watch

Cook moved to Lean D (flip) Apr 13, 2026; Sabato: Toss Up (Mar 4, 2026). Former Gov. Roy Cooper won Dem primary. Former RNC Chair Michael Whatley (Trump-endorsed) won GOP primary. R+1 PVI. Most likely potential Democratic pickup.

Top contenders

Michael Whatley
Republican
● Candidate

Republican candidate for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat.

FEC Receipts — Cycle Total
$8,410,252
Through Mar 31, 2026
Source: FEC bulk data · api.open.fec.gov/v1/candidate/S6NC00415/
12-wk spend
Thom R Tillis
Republican
● Filed with FEC

Federally registered candidate for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat. No editorial profile available.

FEC Receipts — Cycle Total
$4,707,960
Through Mar 31, 2026
Source: FEC bulk data · api.open.fec.gov/v1/candidate/S4NC00162/
Roy Cooper
Democrat
● Candidate

Democrat candidate for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat.

FEC Receipts — Cycle Total
$26,822,373
Through Mar 31, 2026
Source: FEC bulk data · api.open.fec.gov/v1/candidate/S6NC00407/

Republicans

Thom R Tillis
Republican
● Filed with FEC

Federally registered candidate for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat. No editorial profile available.

FEC Receipts — Cycle Total
$4,707,960
Through Mar 31, 2026
Source: FEC bulk data · api.open.fec.gov/v1/candidate/S4NC00162/
Michael Whatley
Republican
● Candidate

Republican candidate for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat.

FEC Receipts — Cycle Total
$8,410,252
Through Mar 31, 2026
Source: FEC bulk data · api.open.fec.gov/v1/candidate/S6NC00415/
12-wk spend

Democrats

Roy Cooper
Democrat
● Candidate

Democrat candidate for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat.

FEC Receipts — Cycle Total
$26,822,373
Through Mar 31, 2026
Source: FEC bulk data · api.open.fec.gov/v1/candidate/S6NC00407/

Other parties

Shannon Bray
Libertarian
● Candidate

Libertarian candidate for the North Carolina U.S. Senate seat.

FEC Receipts — Cycle Total
Not yet filed with FEC
Source: FEC bulk data · through 2026-03-31 (Q1 2026)

20 additional FEC filers excluded as long-tail (no editorial listing, not the seat incumbent, and under $1M raised). They remain in the database and can be surfaced via the FEC API directly.