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S6NC00407
COOPER, ROY Open seat
9.7
Influence Score · 2026
Substantially backed
Non-incumbent — only contributions, independent expenditures, and dark-money exposure are scored.
Lobbying, vote alignment, bundle timing, and trade direction require committee assignments and
roll-call records, neither of which exist for a non-sitting candidate. Maximum reachable score is
about 23, on a challenger-only scale — incumbents are scored 0–100 across all twelve axes, so the two
are not directly comparable. See methodology.
Score components
| Axis | Raw | Normalized (pts) | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct contributions | $17.26M | 8.00 | 2026 cycle, principal committee |
| Outside spending — direct support | $546K | — | PACs that directly supported this candidate |
| Outside spending — indirect (OPPOSE against opponents) | $1.09M | — | OPPOSE spending against opponents in the same race, attributed proportionally |
| Outside spending — OPPOSE against this candidate | $4.08M | — | PACs that spent to defeat this candidate (not scored on this axis) |
| Total outside spending in favor | $1.64M | 1.72 | direct + indirect — drives the outside-spending axis |
| Lobbying exposure | — | — | Requires committee assignment |
| Vote alignment | — | — | Requires voting record |
| Contribution timing — money arriving near key votes | — | — | Requires recorded-vote calendar |
| Dark-money exposure | 0.0023 | 0.02 | Disclosed-vs-dark outside spending share |
| Personal trade direction | — | — | Requires STOCK Act filings |
Race matchup NC Senate
| Candidate | Party | Status | Direct $ | Outside $ | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TILLIS, THOM R. SEN. | REP | Inc. | $898K | $83K | 72.4 | Highly exposed |
| WHATLEY, MICHAEL | REP | Open | $7.58M | $7.82M | 11.8 | Substantially backed |
| COOPER, ROY | DEM | Open | $17.26M | $1.64M | 9.7 | Substantially backed |
| NICKEL, WILEY | DEM | $1.45M | $1.77M | 7.3 | Substantially backed | |
| BROWN, DON | REP | Open | $229K | $1.78M | 2.7 | Lightly backed |
| NILSSON, ROBERT ANDERS MR | REP | Open | $0 | $1.77M | 1.8 | Lightly backed |
| DUES, JUSTIN | DEM | Open | $0 | $1.77M | 1.8 | Lightly backed |
Challenger and open-seat scores reflect contributions, outside spending, and dark-money exposure only — a maximum of about 23. They are not directly comparable to incumbent scores, which run 0–100 across all twelve axes. Compare the dollar columns (Direct $, Outside $) for a like-for-like view.