Nearly 90% of Black voters back Roy Cooper as he flips North Carolina Senate seat for Democrats

Preliminary ABC News voter polling shows strong Black support for the former governor, who defeated Trump-backed Republican Michael Whatley.

About nine in ten Black voters supported Roy Cooper as the former North Carolina governor defeated Republican Michael Whatley, flipping a GOP-held U.S. Senate seat for Democrats. His victory came after weeks of Black voter mobilization ahead of the midterms and amid disputes over early voting in North Carolina.

Cooper, a two-term governor, won Tuesday’s race against Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chair backed by President Donald Trump, ABC11 reported on November 4. The preliminary ABC News Voter Poll found that Black voters accounted for about one in six people who voted in the Senate contest, with approximately nine in ten backing Cooper.

The survey also found that white voters, roughly three-quarters of the electorate, were almost evenly divided between the candidates. About six in ten independent voters supported Cooper. Among voters ages 18 to 29, he led Whatley by approximately 58 percentage points.

Roy Cooper will replace retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who decided not to seek another term after clashing with Trump over the president’s tax and spending legislation. It is North Carolina’s first Democratic Senate election victory since Kay Hagan won in 2008.

ABC11’s unofficial election tally Wednesday showed Cooper winning about 59% of the vote to Whatley’s 39%. Those figures are not yet certified. The racial breakdown comes from a survey, not an official ballot count by voters’ race.

The Senate victory was Cooper’s seventh statewide win, following two elections for governor and four for attorney general. He campaigned on lowering everyday costs, especially food and energy, and highlighted housing and health care. Whatley emphasized his alignment with Trump and criticized Cooper’s record on crime.

North Carolina supported Trump in the past three presidential elections. Cooper nevertheless drew support from Black voters, younger voters, independents and enough white voters to win a seat Republicans had held.