He has never lost an election. He has known Kamala Harris for years. He bills himself as a “diet soda sommelier” who abhors “diet Mountain Dew” — which Sen. JD Vance went viral for promoting in his first appearance as Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate.
“I just think Cooper is the total package,” said state Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue, North Carolina’s first and only Black House speaker. “I don’t see any weakness — if being southern and speaking a little slow can be a weakness in certain parts of the country.”
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is not one an astronaut or the name of the host Like others, the vice president is considering his candidacy. But many Democrats think Cooper is at or near the top of Harris’ short list because he could be a strong partner who could potentially deliver North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes.
“He’s the ultimate team player,” said state Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, the Democratic whip and a former aide to Cooper. “James Carville once famously said that there are politicians who want to be something and politicians who want to do something. Roy Cooper was someone who wanted to do something for the people.”
The governor’s second term expires at the end of this year, and term limits prevent him from running again, so Democrats wouldn’t risk losing anything by forcing him out of state. And he’s not known to have any presidential ambitions for himself, so it would be difficult for him to try to overshadow Harris or use the job as a stepping stone.
“He’s winning a lot,” said Noam Lee, who was executive director of the Democratic Governors Association when Cooper was chairman.
“Mr. November,” as Lee Cooper says he’s called internally, has raised “a truly incredible amount of money” to help the party’s gubernatorial slate beat expectations in 2022.
Allies describe Cooper, 67, as a disciplined political tactician and skilled executive who has spent years quietly chipping away at opposition in the Republican-dominated state house to pass progressive legislation. LGBTQ rights, Medicaid expansion and climate change.
In North Carolina, Cooper has won six consecutive state elections, outperforming national Democrats, including five when Republican presidential candidates carried the state. He won his first term as governor in 2016 by ousting the Republican nominee, even as Trump cruised to victory on the same night.
“Roy Cooper is the most popular politician in North Carolina,” said Democratic strategist Gary Pearce of Raleigh. “North Carolina has always been more of a state that if the Democrats can win, then there’s no way for Trump to get to the White House.”
After decades in the state Legislature, four terms as attorney general and two terms as governor, allies say Cooper knows this better than anyone, cultivating a wide bipartisan political network with an old-fashioned Joe Biden-style network of connections and a penchant for handwritten notes. .
Still, it would be an uphill battle for any Harris-led ticket to carry North Carolina.
Vice presidential candidates have a mixed track record of delivering their states as voters focus on the top of the ticket. And, as in many states, North Carolina voters have a record of being willing to split their ticket in state races rather than federal ones, making it unclear whether Cooper’s coattails will even work in a presidential race.
Still, Cooper boosters say the grizzled Southerner would be the perfect complement to Harris, who Republicans are eager to revive the San Francisco extremist.
Sunday school teacher
Born in rural Nash County, about 45 miles east of Raleigh, Cooper – who said actually pronounced more like a “cook” — he attended public schools and picked tobacco on his parents’ farm during the summers. He gained prestige Morehead Scholarship Attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he pledged the Chi Psi fraternity and was elected president of the campus Young Democrats. He stayed at UNC for law school.
An observant Presbyterian, Cooper served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. Church of Raleigh. His wife, Christine, is an attorney and avid birder who works in and uses the foster care system. first lady focusing on child poverty and related issues. They have three teenage daughters, all of whom graduated from Chapel Hill.
Former aides describe Cooper as a warm boss who treats employees like family and models a work-life balance that helps build strong loyalty. They are proud to note that two former Cooper cabinet officials have recently been promoted to senior positions in Washington, including director of the Environmental Protection Agency. Michael S. Regan and director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Mandy Cohen.
The image of a squeaky-clean family man is real, allies say, but it’s a hard one to penetrate because Cooper rarely shows much spontaneity and personality in public.
“He’s a very disciplined messenger,” said Travis Fain, a veteran North Carolina political reporter who recently left journalism for nonpartisan PR. “There are a lot of people I’ve interviewed over the years where I thought I was in control – Cooper was not one of them. “I tried as many ways as I could think of to get him out of the talking points, but it became clear that I was only going to get what he wanted to give.”
Fain and other North Carolina politicians have a reputation for image control, a hot mic moment While preparing the interview, Cooper answered a question about himself favorite Diet Sun Drop soda with a rare moment of slowness.
“I’m like a diet soda sommelier,” he said as he prepared the microphone for an interview in 2022. “So Mountain Dew is sweeter than Diet Sun Drop. Diet Sun Drop has a slightly more tart taste.
Not much. Especially in a time when politicians are posting so much on social media. But Cooper posted “diet soda sommelier” in his social media bio, and the North Carolina Democratic Party sold “diet soda sommelier.” koozies.
“He has a human side,” Fain said. “And he should have shown a little more than that [as Harris’ running mate] because you have to pass at the national level.”
So it’s ironic that he’s using it to share his first speech as his potential rival, Vance Trump, as his running mate. own thoughts on diet citrus sodajoked that Democrats would start calling their beloved Diet Mountain Dew “racist” now.
“I’ve known him for a long time”
Unlike some on Harris’ short list, she and Cooper have a pre-existing, if not close, relationship.
As attorneys general, they worked together on the national mortgage deal after the 2008 financial crisis. When Harris came to the Senate and served on the Judiciary Committee, he called on Cooper to reject nominees from his state. Blue, the leader of the Senate Democratic Party, noted that every time Cooper visits the state, he is seen with Harris “as opposed to those who run away when times get tough.”
“I’ve known him a long time,” Cooper said of Harris on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this week. “She came to Charlotte on Dobbs’ anniversary and gave an impassioned speech at a packed rally about women’s reproductive freedom. You could tell the excitement in the room.”
Matt Bennett, executive vice president of the centrist Democratic Third Way, who has worked on several presidential campaigns, said personal “chemistry” may be the most important factor in Harris’ selection.
“I don’t know that there’s a void that Harris needs to fill, so if I were Harris, I’d look for the person I feel most comfortable with,” Bennett said.
Weaknesses
While Cooper is unlikely to have any skeletons in his closet, Republicans will revive criticism of his handling in 2018. hurricanea pipeline fund and the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Democrats will raise concerns about his Republican lieutenant governor. Mark Robinson, under state law, becomes acting governor when the governor is out of state. (North Carolina elects the two positions separately, not as tickets.)
Robinson, who is running for governor this year, is a highly controversial figure among Democrats. Holocaust denier a far-right ideologue. So that some worried Robinson could use Cooper’s absence from the campaign.
But Gerry Cohen, a North Carolina election law expert who spent 40 years on the state Legislature’s nonpartisan staff, said Robinson, who was not immediately recalled when Cooper returned to the state, could.
“We rarely have governors and lieutenant governors of different parties. … I’m not aware of any problems going on,” he said. “The Republicans have a majority, so Cooper’s veto could be overridden anyway, so I’m not sure what the real difference would be.”