2026 North Carolina Senate race: prisoner-release criticism of Roy Cooper

August 5–September 1, 2026

Cooper faces two fights over crime: his record and the ads attacking it

Critics of former governor Roy Cooper, now running for the U.S. Senate, argue that prisoner releases during his administration put public safety at risk. The dispute includes releases during the pandemic and attack ads linking his record to later killings. His defenders answer in two ways: they explain the circumstances of the releases, and they dispute the case made in particular attack ads.

In the exchanges about these particular ads and prisoner releases, about 37% of the posts criticize Cooper's release record or its consequences. About 23% defend or qualify that record, citing court requirements, prisoners' proximity to release or conditions during the pandemic. These responses can overlap.

One disputed ad uses Ronald Hayes's account of his son Shemar's murder to attack Cooper's release record. In reporting circulated in the discussion, Hayes says he believed he was taking part in an anti-gun-violence message and does not blame Cooper for his son's death.

Reporting and quotations about that advertisement make up about 23% of the posts in those disputes, including Hayes's objection and challenges to the link made to Cooper. That shows the rebuttal circulating; it does not tell us how many people accept it.

Cooper faces Michael Whatley in the Senate race. The capture includes outside-group advertising, which should not all be attributed to Whatley's campaign.

What we'll watch next

• Whether people take up the explanations for the releases, rather than only objecting to the ads.
• Whether criticism of Cooper's record persists when the circumstances of a release are explained.
• Whether ad rebuttals prompt defenses of the attack or a shift toward other public-safety arguments.

A deeper North Carolina study could track the response to each advertisement and distinguish objections to its accuracy from views of Cooper's decisions. This monitor draws on a smaller sample than a dedicated campaign study.

Want a closer look at the arguments shaping your race? Talk with us about a dedicated campaign study.

The wider conversation

Other discussion covers campaign spending, donor allegations, campaign conduct and household costs. National Senate commentary also forms part of the conversation collected here.

These shares include all captured posts, including general candidate reactions and discussion without a specific issue.

The table distinguishes policy discussion from candidate controversies. Categories overlap, and their ranking describes the material collected, not North Carolina voters' priorities.

Together, these overlapping topics cover 9.3% of captured posts. Another 4.5% addresses other race-linked issues or controversies. The remaining 86.2% includes general candidate and party reactions, election speculation, jokes and personal remarks, national or other-race tangents, and content whose meaning or context could not be established.

Overall shares use all 1,665 captured posts. Crime-section percentages use 30 identified posts about the selected crime-ad and prisoner-release disputes; the table uses broader topic definitions. The crime subset is not the full public-safety category in the table. Reporting, questions, criticism and defenses are not a complete support-versus-opposition distribution. Figures count posts, not people, voters or persuasion. Allegations and factual assertions in comments are not independently established here. Percentages are rounded.