North Carolina Senate race between Cooper, Whatley tightens: Poll

Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) is maintaining his lead over former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley in the state’s Senate race, according to a new poll released Friday.

A High Point University Poll found the Democratic candidate had a 5-point advantage over his GOP opponent among likely North Carolina voters. Fifty percent of respondents backed Cooper, while 45 percent supported Whatley in the contest.

The candidates will face off in the November race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. The North Carolina seat is one of the six GOP-controlled seats Democrats are hoping to flip this election cycle.

Democrats are currently at a 53-47 disadvantage in the Senate and would need to flip at least four seats to gain control of the upper legislative chamber.

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election observer, shifted its forecast in the North Carolina race from a “toss-up” to “leans Democratic” in April, following a trend in polling favoring the former governor.

The battleground state narrowly supported President Trump in the past three presidential elections.

This latest survey shows the former RNC chair polling in closer range to his Democratic opponent than in previous polling.

A poll released earlier this month from Carolina Forward found Cooper had a 7-point advantage over Whatley. Support was largely split along partisan lines, with 97 percent of Democratic respondents supporting the former governor and 91 percent of Republicans backing the former RNC chair in this survey.

Cooper had a nearly 13-point advantage over Whatley in a Carolina Journal poll released last week, receiving 52 percent support among likely voters in the state. Thirty-nine percent of respondents supported the Republican candidate in this survey.

The High Point University poll surveyed a sample of 660 likely North Carolina voters from Aug. 3 to 12. The results had a margin of error of approximately 5.2 percentage points.