Wiley Nickel plans to end Senate bid, eyes a run for Wake County DA instead
Former Rep. Wiley Nickel intends to suspend his bid for U.S. Senate and back former Gov. Roy Cooper, sources familiar with Nickel’s plans have told The News & Observer.
Nickel is instead considering a run for the open Wake County district attorney seat in 2026, sources say. Democrat Lorrin Freeman, who has been Wake’s top prosecutor for more than 10 years, announced this spring she would not seek reelection.
A Democrat from Cary, Nickel served a single term as a U.S. representative from 2023 to 2025. He was one of several Democrats who had their congressional districts redrawn by state lawmakers to favor Republican candidates, giving him little chance at reelection.
In late 2023, he announced he would run for U.S. Senate. “(North Carolina Senate President) Phil Berger and legislative Republicans can’t gerrymander a statewide election,” he said at the time.
But Nickel’s chances in the Democratic primary were diminished this past week by reports that Cooper would run for the vacant Senate seat currently held by Republican Thom Tillis, who is not seeking reelection.
Cooper is expected to announce his run for U.S. Senate on Monday, according to multiple news outlets. Morgan Jackson, Cooper’s adviser, told The N&O on Wednesday that “Governor Cooper would be making his intentions (on the Senate race) known in the coming days.”
The former governor, who left office this year, had held office since the late 1980s. Unlike Nickel, he has won multiple statewide races — having served four terms as attorney general and two as governor before being term-limited.
Neither Nickel nor his Senate campaign team responded to questions Saturday about his future plans. Multiple local news outlets have reported his plans to exit the Senate race for the local district attorney seat, citing sources familiar with his decision.
The next Wake County district attorney will be only the third since 1986. Before Freeman, Democrat Colon Willoughby served seven terms as the top prosecutor in North Carolina’s most populous county. Sherita Walton, an attorney for the city of Raleigh, and Melanie Shekita, a Wake County assistant district attorney, have already announced their candidacies.
The 2026 Senate race is expected to be one of the most expensive in the country and closely tracked as the swing state of North Carolina could help decide if Republicans maintain their majority.
Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, announced in late June he would not run for a third term. He did not vote for the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which put him at odds with President Donald Trump. Tillis cited the bill’s expected impacts on Medicaid and rural hospitals as key reasons for his opposition.
On Thursday, Trump endorsed Michael Whatley, Republican National Committee chairman, for Tillis’ seat. Whatley is a North Carolina native who served as head of the state’s Republican Party before Trump selected him in 2024 as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
McClatchy confirmed Whatley’s candidacy, first reported by Politico Thursday morning, with a Republican consultant helping to organize the campaign in North Carolina.
Danielle Battaglia contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM with the headline "Wiley Nickel plans to end Senate bid, eyes a run for Wake County DA instead."
