Axios: “Senior Democrats are increasingly convinced the party will land former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to run for Senate next year, a potential coup for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Why it matters: Both parties acknowledge their Senate success next year will largely rest upon their recruitment efforts this year.
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), has been personally involved in the effort to recruit Cooper, whom she’s called a “formidable candidate,” sources tell Axios.
- But Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has indicated she’s passing on a Senate run, despite Schumer’s direct appeals.
Zoom in: Cooper is unlikely to make a decision until June, a source familiar with his thinking tells Axios. Until then it’s 50/50, the source said.”