RALEIGH – Former Democratic Governor and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper smiled broadly and exchanged pleasantries with poll workers at Chavis Community Center Thursday as he cast his ballot on the first day of early in-person voting in the 2026 primary.

Cooper is facing five primary challengers in the race to replace outgoing Republican Sen. Thom Tillis: Daryl Farrow, Justin E. Dues, Robert Colon, Marcus W. Williams and pastor Orrick Quick.

Cooper has not made many public appearances in the primary, but the two-term governor is widely expected to win the Democratic nomination on the strength of his name recognition and prolific fundraising.

Cooper encouraged voters to take advantage of early voting and to make their voices heard on issues of affordability. He pledged to be a strong, independent voice in Washington who would work with the president when it was possible and stand up to him when it was necessary.

“There’s so many people in the middle class barely hanging on,” Cooper said, citing the rising costs of groceries, rent, utilities and child care. “For a lot of families, there’s just too much month at the end of the money.”

Republicans have challenged Cooper’s record on crime, pointing to the stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska by suspect Decarlos Brown Jr. on Charlotte light rail as an example of a failed criminal justice system when Cooper was governor. At the polling place, several GOP demonstrators dressed in orange jumpsuits stood behind Cooper with signs that read “Crooks for Cooper” and “Soft on Crime Cooper.”

Cooper said he was not responsible for releasing Brown, who was actually released at the end of his sentence. He told reporters he is the only candidate in the Senate race who has spent a career prosecuting violent criminals and has worked with Republicans on legislation to prevent earlier releases.

“My opponent, Michael Whatley, has supported the DOGE cuts that actually cut help to local law enforcement, making families less safe,” he said.

Whatley, the former RNC chair, is also facing five challengers in the primary: Don Brown, Richard Dansie, Thomas Johnson, Michelle Morrow and Elizabeth Temple. He, too, is widely expected to win the nomination based on President Trump’s endorsement and his ties to party insiders. Whatley has pledged to be an ally for President Trump and his “America First” agenda.

Cooper said he believes the country is not as divided as some politicians want the public to believe, and that there will be opportunities to break through Washington’s legendary gridlock during the final two years of the Trump administration.

“I believe that more Republicans are going to want to step up to reinsert the checks and balances that the framers of our Constitution intended,” Cooper said. “Congress needs to take back its constitutional authority on trade and tariffs, on the declaration of war, on budget matters where the executive branch is spending money that hadn’t been appropriated by Congress. I believe that we’re going to get some bipartisan support on that.”

Cooper’s message resonated with Adam Holtzman, another early voter who was at Chavis during the former governor’s visit. “I’m a retired state employee, so I’m definitely middle class,” Holtzman said. “But the people who are struggling, I feel for them, because it’s getting tougher with the changes that the Republicans made this year on health care. I know people whose health care costs have just skyrocketed.”

But Holtzman said this year, he was voting early for more than just pocketbook issues. “I think our democracy is being threatened terribly,” he said. “My daughter’s in Minneapolis. You know, every day it’s like we’re in Germany in the 1930s. It’s pretty scary.”

Early voting for continues through Feb. 28. Election Day for the primary is March 3.

Comments