Former Gov. Roy Cooper will have an opponent in next year's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
Orrick Quick, a pastor from High Point, launched his campaign this month for the seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis.
Quick is a former N.C. State football player who has previously run for the High Point City Council. In addition to his ministry at New Covenant Church, he briefly co-hosted a 2016 Fox TV talk show called "The Preachers."
He says his experiences with adversity make him the strongest candidate in the race.
"No one can offer what I have to offer," Quick told WUNC. "I thank God for Gov. Roy Cooper, but Roy Cooper is not Orrick Quick. I think that we have to elect officials who know how to legislate when you have experienced the struggles of life."
Quick says he's survived multiple car wrecks and a house fire. "I've been dead twice," he said. "I've had to learn how to walk over three times in my lifetime. I know what it's like to lose everything. ... That's what I'm bringing into this campaign, is that I'm connecting with the regular person, not anyone that's going to legislate from 10,000 feet."
Quick is working with the campaign firm Hockomock Digital, which previously worked for Tillis and other prominent Republicans. Hockomock's founder, Jason Ross, worked for the Massachusetts Republican Party before starting his consulting firm.
"He reached out to me and we clicked," Quick said. "His values kind of line up with my values, and it just kind of took off from there. Because, you know, I'm just the type of person where in any situation, especially a situation like this, we have to walk by faith and not by sight."
Quick says he's a loyal Democrat who doesn't always agree with his party.
"Even though there may be some things that I disagree with, even in the Democratic Party, but that does not mean that I'm going to abandon the Democratic Party just because I disagree," he said. "It's just like having a family: No one agrees with your cousin or your uncle or your auntie or your brother all the time, but that does not mean that you're not family."
Quick didn't elaborate when asked about the issues where he might disagree with Cooper. "That's just something that we will have to unpack once we get there," he said.
Quick said he decided to enter the race because of the impacts of President Trump's megabill. "We're about to fully understand what the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' is going to do to our elders in the community," he said. "It's going to take food off of the table of families, and so that's what really got me involved, is just seeing the neglect of our country."
Another Democrat in the race, former Congressman Wiley Nickel, dropped out after Cooper launched his campaign.
On the Republican side, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley is considered the frontrunner with President Donald Trump's endorsement. One of the other GOP candidates, Andy Nilsson, dropped out of the race, but attorney Don Brown is continuing his campaign.
