A few weeks after leaving office as a two-term chief executive of a purple state, former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper is still weighing a run for GOP Senator Thom Tillis’s seat in 2026.

Cooper is in communication with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — Senate Democrats’ campaign arm — and is “very aware that they are interested” in recruiting him for the upcoming cycle, a source close to Cooper confirms to National Review.

“The Senate folks have reached out and said, ‘Whatever you need from us, we’re more than happy to provide,’” this source said, while cautioning that after eight years as governor, Cooper is taking some time to decompress before making any big decisions about his political future. “He is definitely going to consider the race but just has not made any decisions yet, and it’ll be a little bit before he does.”

The 67-year-old former attorney general is a veteran of North Carolina’s state legislature and has long been considered a possible candidate for U.S. Senate in 2026 or for the White House in 2028. He has never lost an election and is seen as an especially formidable purple-state Senate recruit in a 2026 cycle with few pickup opportunities for Democrats.

A 2026 Senate run by Cooper would present a major electoral challenge for Tillis, who is expected to attract tough primary and general election competition next cycle.

Cooper hasn’t shied away from public speculation about his future political plans, telling the New York Times in December that he’s in no rush to announce what’s next. “I just want to take some time with my family and then make a decision,” he told the Times. “It’s hard for me to believe that I won’t want to do something to continue adding to the woodpile, and I look forward to that.”