Democratic former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper holds an eight-point advantage over Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the state’s open U.S. Senate contest, according to a Harper Polling survey released by Carolina Journal. The poll of 600 likely voters conducted Aug. 11–12 found 47% backing Cooper and 39% supporting Whatley, with 10% undecided and 4% opting for another candidate. Cooper’s edge is bolstered by widespread familiarity—only 4% of respondents said they had never heard of him—compared with 51% who were unfamiliar with Whatley. The survey carries a margin of error of about four percentage points.