What Does the Future Hold for Roy Cooper?

Roy Cooper appears at a post-presidential debate Biden campaign rally in Raleigh in June 2024. Source: Allison Joyce / Getty Images

In North Carolina, former governor Roy Cooper is a political powerhouse, having spent sixteen years as attorney general before serving as governor from 2017 to 2024. Excluding 2024, Cooper has won a statewide election in each of the last six cycles — even as the Republican presidential candidate carried the state all but once. Now, he’s looking to the future, as indicated by reports that he is eyeing a return to elected office. So, where might he end up? Could he return to the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, launch a bid for the nation’s highest office, or find a happy medium by pursuing Thom Tillis’ Senate seat in 2026?

The simplest choice would be to run for governor again. While North Carolina has limits on consecutive terms for its executives, there would be nothing stopping Cooper from returning to Raleigh after taking a break from the office. This was the path of former Governor Jim Hunt, who served as the state’s chief executive from 1977-1985 and 1993-2001, stepping away for eight years to practice law. In theory, a third term as governor would be an easy victory for Cooper, who would benefit from widespread name recognition and deep donor connections. However, it’s worth considering that current Governor Josh Stein is likely a shoo-in for the 2028 Democratic nomination, given that incumbent governors almost never lose their primaries — for example, from 1994-2012, only seven governors lost their primaries across the country. This means Cooper would likely have to wait until 2032 to seek the governorship again — a tall order, given that he will turn seventy-five that year, making him sixteen years older than the average U.S. governor at inauguration. Especially given that many Democratic voters would still remember Joe Biden’s chaotic, age-related withdrawal from the 2024 election, Cooper could face an uphill battle in a potential gubernatorial primary.

A more immediate — and far more ambitious — option would be a presidential run in 2028, using his status as a popular former swing-state governor to make his case to Democratic primary voters. This was the path taken by Terry Sanford, a former governor of the Old North State who sought the presidency in 1972 and 1976. However, Sanford lost both his presidential bids, in part because he was crowded out by more well-known figures — for example, in 1972, he was forced to withdraw from the race after he lost his home state to Alabama Governor George Wallace, who had cultivated a strong national profile as an opponent of integration. Cooper would face a similar problem, given that the emerging field of Democrats seeking the 2028 nomination could include national figures like former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, meaning Cooper would struggle to gain visibility against higher-profile contenders. This is worsened by the fact that the Democratic Party has not nominated a non-federal politician (i.e., president, vice president, cabinet secretary, or senator) for president since 1992, when Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton clinched the nomination. So, Cooper would face a steep climb if he chose to seek the presidency, like if he chose to run for governor again.

That leaves one other path open to Cooper — the Senate. This is the best of both worlds for the former governor; there will be an open Democratic nomination for Thom Tillis’ seat in 2026 that Cooper could use his impressive fundraising network and high name recognition to leverage into a credible campaign against the incumbent Tillis (or a Republican who primaries him). He would be a strong primary candidate, with significant enough political capital to block any other high-profile Democrats from running. This would mirror the 2024 gubernatorial primary, when then-Attorney General Josh Stein’s high name recognition effectively cleared the field of most would-be contenders for the Executive Mansion. Of course, Cooper would also be a strong contender in the general election. He could leverage his popularity as a former governor to defeat the Republican candidate — especially in what will likely be a Democratic-leaning national environment, since midterm elections typically favor the party not in the White House.

This is likely the path Cooper will take, as he has refused to publicly rule out a Senate run. Naturally, this is likely unwelcome news to other ambitious North Carolina Democrats like Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who sought the state’s other Senate seat in 2022 and has since built up an outsized political profile due to his viral political explainer TikToks and popular newsletter that have garnered national attention. Jackson likely could not beat Cooper in 2026 due to the latter’s massive political profile in North Carolina, meaning he would have to wait until 2028 to mount a credible Senate campaign — possibly against other high-profile North Carolina Democrats such as Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt or former Congressman Wiley Nickel. 

Overall, even though the Senate is the clearest path forward for Cooper, his political prospects are wide open. Whether he runs for governor, the Senate, or the presidency, he will likely find widespread support among North Carolina Democrats, who remember his defense of public education and efforts to expand Medicaid as governor fondly. Consequently, Cooper has a range of opportunities to reclaim his status as a public official and further build his political profile.