Jesse Watters tosses in midterms towel on air before polls even close
- Democrat Roy Cooper won North Carolina's U.S. Senate race, defeating Trump-backed Republican candidate Michael Whatley.
- Cooper is the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from North Carolina in 18 years, breaking a streak of five consecutive Republican victories.
- The former two-term governor leveraged his statewide name recognition and focused on rising food and energy costs to win independent voters.
- Cooper will succeed retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who became a prominent critic of President Donald Trump.
- The victory gives Democrats a vital seat in their effort to flip the 53-47 Republican majority in the Senate.
