Six-figure private security bill for top Dem Senate hopeful fuels GOP hypocrisy claims

FIRST ON FOX: Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s Senate campaign spent more than $250K on private security, federal records reviewed by Fox News Digital show, giving Republicans a new line of attack as they accuse the Democratic Senate hopeful of backing policies that make North Carolinians feel less safe.

Federal Election Commission records show Cooper’s campaign spent $277,312.28 on security-related payments during the 2026 election cycle thus far, with the money going to two vendors: Foresight Solutions and Frontpoint. Foresight Solutions describes its work as including customized security assessments, workplace safety training, de-escalation techniques, conflict resolution and workplace violence prevention. Frontpoint markets home-security systems designed to protect homes and families.

The spending comes as Cooper faces GOP attacks over his record on policing, criminal justice reform, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cooperation and COVID-19-era inmate releases during his time as governor. 

Republicans also have invoked the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train, arguing Cooper’s criminal justice posture — including a racial equity task force that backed changes to cash bail — reflects a broader soft-on-crime record. 

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Republican strategist Mark Bednar, who was a communications director for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and current Transportation Secretary and former Congressman Sean Duffy, ripped Cooper’s “blatant hypocrisy” in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“The issue on voters’ minds isn’t whether Roy Cooper or any other Democrat deems it necessary to keep themselves safe, but the issue is when he and other Democrats prioritize their own security while trying to hide from voters’ their soft-on-crime records that threaten local communities,” Bednar said.

“As Governor, Roy Cooper agreed to release thousands of criminals early, many of whom went on to commit more crimes, and he fought tooth and nail to prevent local law enforcement working with immigration enforcement officials,” he continued. “In an election year that’s going to come down to the wire, blatant hypocrisy like this is going to stick out to voters.”

However, a Cooper campaign spokesperson pushed back on the criticism, defending the former governor’s public-safety record and accusing his Republican opponent in the upcoming general election, Michael Whatley, of hypocrisy.  

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“While Roy spent his career putting rapists and violent criminals behind bars and signing tough on crime, stricter bail and pretrial release laws as governor, Michael Whatley spent his (career) appointing a convicted child sex predator who served time in prison to a powerful position within the North Carolina Republican Party and pushing to release prisoners during the pandemic,” the spokesperson said, referring to Whatley’s appointment of Harvey Lee West.  

West pleaded guilty in 2000 to five counts of taking indecent liberties with a child and later served on the North Carolina GOP’s Plan of Organization Committee, which helps set party rules, according to PolitiFact. 

The Cooper campaign suggested Republicans have been distorting Cooper’s record on COVID-era inmate releases, pointing to past statements from the North Carolina GOP under Whatley that criticized Cooper for not doing more to address COVID-19 inside prisons.

Cooper’s campaign also pointed to the former governor’s 16 years as North Carolina attorney general, where he served as the state’s top law enforcement official, and legislation he signed as governor that made it easier to go after drug dealers, gave judges discretion to keep violent offenders behind bars ahead of trial, and provided raises to law enforcement.

A Whatley spokesperson clapped back at Cooper’s claims when asked for a response, arguing the former governor has a long record of mismanaging significant challenges. 

“Roy Cooper has blood on his hands. He chose to release thousands of convicted criminals back onto North Carolina’s streets instead of fighting in court like Democrat governors in Colorado and Illinois,” Whatley spokesperson DJ Griffin told Fox News Digital in response to Cooper’s attack. “The consequences have been devastating.”