Morning all. Excited to share a new interview with Governor Roy Cooper, our candidate for the Tillis open seat in North Carolina. In our discussion you will get to know this very strong Senate candidate and learn that his campaign’s central focus is fighting for the people of North Carolina being harmed by Trump’s agenda of rising prices, a slower economy and cuts to health care. Given this long track of getting things done as AG and Governor when you hear Roy Cooper make this commitment to fight for the people of North Carolina you know he means it……
Right now this race is our best opportunity for a Senate pick up this cycle, and I hope everyone here at Hopium becomes a supporter of his campaign. In addition to this interview you can learn more about Governor Cooper on his web site and a short bio is below. To donate use this Hopium link. Our goal is to raise $250,000 for Governor Cooper by the end of the year. Please consider giving today and sharing this interview with others in your networks and encourage them to join you. We need to be all in here everybody……
A new poll released by a right-leaning organization in North Carolina has Governor Cooper leading his opponent, former RNC Chair and lobbyist, Michael Whatley, 47%-39%. It’s a sign that if we do the work we can win here in North Carolina next year.
As veteran Hopium folks know North Carolina is a special state for us. This incredible community contributed more than $1.1m for the Democratic Party of North Carolina last cycle and their dynamic chair, Anderson Clayton. That huge investment, the largest the NC Dems received outside of the Dem party committees, helped power our down ballot wins there - 5 of 10 statewide offices including the Governor, the breaking of the GOP’s legislative super majority, Allison Riggs winning that Supreme Court race (twice). In many ways North Carolina was the Democratic Party’s biggest success story in 2024, and this community played a major role in helping us achieve the important wins we had there. We need to build on this 2024 success and do it again in 2026!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our chances for flipping the Senate in 2026 has improved in recent weeks. Governor Cooper was a big get for us, as is Sherrod Brown who has just jumped into the Ohio Senate race this morning!
We start the cycle with the Senate at 53 Republican, 47 Democrat. We need to hold GA, MI, MN, NH and flip four seats to gain the majority. If we flip NC and OH that gets us to 49, and we will need to win two more from AK, IA, ME, NE, TX. While this will be hard, it is not impossible, and it will only be possible if we do everything we can to support candidates like Roy Cooper.
The races we’ve endorsed in so far are what I consider must wins/everyone in races. We simply must win NJ and VA this November. Senator Jon Ossoff must return. We must flip NC, and we need to make sure the Hopium House 7 all return. In the coming weeks we will be expanding our election recommendations to include some “red to blue” House candidates (those running to flip Republican held seats) and some state parties in these must win 2026 Senate races.
As Hopium slows these next few late summer weeks one thing you can do is watch our interview with Roy Cooper and the others below. Get to know our candidates. Champion them to others in your networks. They are out their busting their ass for all of us and we need to be there for all of them now……
Our Must Win/Everyone In Races
Mikie Sherrill NJ Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $53k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interview with Rep. Sherrill
Abigail Spanberger VA Gov (2025) - $250,000 goal, $170k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interview with Abigail Spanberger
Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $25,000 Labor Day goal, $250,000 goal, $22,000 raised- Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Watch my interview with NC Dem Chair Anderson Clayton
Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $250,000 goal, $49k raised - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer
Hopium House 7 (2026) - $250,000 goal, $182k raised - Donate | Learn More, Volunteer, Watch My Interviews With Our Intrepid Incumbents
Our updated fundraising goals are now for the end of the year, December 31st, except for the 2025 races, which are now for Election Day, 2025. As background learn about 1) our big recommendations to the family coming out of the 2024 elections 2) the many important wins we had together last cycle 3) my latest thinking on where we are and the path forward for the Hopium community.
If you want to go deeper into the 2026 electoral landscape this August watch our interviews with DNC Chair Ken Martin, ASDC President Jane Kleeb, former RNC Chair Michael Steele, and a great new interview with Kendall Scudder, Chair of the Texas Democratic Party.
Thank you to all of you who have already donated and are working on these races now. I know lots of postcards are flying across the country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Enjoy this interview with Roy Cooper, please consider donating to him today and keep working it everyone! - Simon
More On Governor Roy Cooper
As Governor, Roy Cooper led North Carolina to be one of the fastest growing states in the nation with a good quality of life, strong education system, more health care coverage and better paying jobs. The state was named as the best state for business three of the past four years.
Cooper was born and raised in Nash County, North Carolina where he attended public schools and worked summers on the farm before earning undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He represented everyday people and small businesses while practicing law in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where he and his wife Kristin raised three daughters. His mother was a public-school teacher, which helped cement his deep commitment to public education. For years, he taught Sunday School and tutored students in local public schools. Cooper entered public service after election to the legislature where he worked to raise teacher pay and strengthen law enforcement and wrote North Carolina’s first children’s health insurance initiative. After being elected Attorney General, Cooper prosecuted thousands of criminals and protected North Carolina families, small businesses and seniors for four consecutive terms. He oversaw a sharp decrease in crime and fought for consumers by putting scammers and predatory lenders out of business and standing up to the drug companies and big banks, getting billions of dollars back to North Carolinians.
Elected Governor in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, both years that Donald Trump carried North Carolina, Cooper’s mission was to ensure that all North Carolinians had the opportunity to be better educated, healthier and more prosperous for generations to come. Governor Cooper worked to create thousands of new jobs and worked with members of both parties to enact hundreds of bipartisan bills. He succeeded in getting a bipartisan agreement to expand Medicaid which in early 2025 has already brought health care to more than 650,000 North Carolinians. He enacted a plan to incentivize hospitals to relieve more than $4 billion of existing medical debt for 2 million eligible North Carolinians and prevent new debt. He also focused on boosting public education, tackling the opioid crisis, revitalizing rural communities and making sure North Carolinians have the training to fill the better paying jobs that require new skills.
Governor Cooper believes that if we work together, we can build a North Carolina that works for everyone.
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