Staff Reports
The latest conservative push in the 2026 U.S. Senate fight in North Carolina is a straightforward one: remind voters of U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper’s record on immigration and public safety, and connect it to a 2019 case where an illegal alien convicted of a child sex offense was released by Buncombe County and later picked up by ICE. Today’s Townhall piece repackages those well‑documented 2019 events as a campaign attack, and it lands on familiar ground — “soft‑on‑crime” rhetoric aimed at a Democrat running statewide.
What actually happened in 2019
The record is plain. In 2019, Buncombe County released Marvin Ramirez Torres after a judge imposed “time served,” and ICE later took him into custody, citing a prior conviction for indecent liberties with a child. Buncombe County’s sheriff had a public policy of not honoring ICE detainers without a judicial arrest warrant, and Governor Cooper vetoed HB370 — a bill that would have required sheriffs to honor ICE detainers. In his veto message Cooper argued the bill would force local sheriffs to act as federal agents and weaken law enforcement. Cooper later appointed the Buncombe sheriff to state advisory bodies, which only adds fuel to the political narrative conservatives are now selling.
Today’s repackaging — politics, not new facts
What’s new is not the underlying events but the timing and the packaging. Conservative outlets like Townhall are resurfacing the ICE press release, local reporting, and Cooper’s veto memo and making them central to the 2026 campaign story. That’s fair game in a campaign: voters should know how a candidate governed. But the spin matters. Supporters of Cooper will point to constitutional concerns and local trust with immigrant communities; opponents will point to the public safety angle and say Cooper’s decisions put dangerous people back on the streets. Both sides can quote official documents — ICE’s criticism of local non‑cooperation and Cooper’s written veto are on the public record — and both will use those quotes to make their case.
Why this matters for the 2026 Senate race
Public safety and immigration enforcement are wedge issues that move votes, especially in a tight statewide race. Republicans will argue that Cooper’s veto and his appointments show a pattern of putting open‑borders politics ahead of citizens’ safety. Democrats will say Cooper was right to protect constitutional rights and to avoid turning sheriffs into federal agents. Either way, the episode gives Republican challengers a tidy narrative: Cooper vetoed a bill that might have kept a convicted child predator in custody. In politics, a tidy narrative is half the battle — and conservatives are doing what campaigns do: remind, repeat, and amplify.
Bottom line
Voters in North Carolina deserve clear answers about how candidates balance rule‑of‑law, constitutional rights, and public safety. The resurfacing of the Torres case and Cooper’s veto is a legitimate campaign line, because it ties documented actions to real outcomes. If Cooper wants to carry his gubernatorial record to the Senate, he should expect reporters, rivals, and voters to take a close look — and for Republicans to make the most of it. That’s politics. And in this fight, the record speaks louder than the spin.
