(NewsNation) — Following President Joe Biden’s stepping out of the presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats are looking into potential vice presidents to join the ticket as recent polling shows she has enough delegate support to secure the nomination.
One of the top names is North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. Cooper was elected in 2016 and 2020, both years where the state voted for former President Donald Trump. He is term-limited and ineligible to run for governor again.
Cooper’s political history
Cooper was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1986 and then appointed a member of the North Carolina Senate from 1991 to 2001.
He was elected the state’s attorney general in 2000 and reelected in 2004, 2008 and 2012, serving nearly 16 years.
Cooper was elected governor in 2016 in a close race with incumbent Republican Pat McCrory. Most of his time as governor has been spent playing defense against a Republican-controlled state General Assembly.
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Roy Cooper, governor of North Carolina, speaks about investments in affordable, accessible high-speed internet at the Carole Hoefener Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, US, on Thursday, July 21, 2022. In May, President Biden announced that 20 companies agreed to offer high-speed internet plans that are essentially free to millions of low-income households under the Affordable Connectivity Program. Photographer: Grant Baldwin/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Cooper’s political views
As governor of North Carolina, Cooper has prioritized funding schools, increasing health care coverage and expanding infrastructure. Here’s where he stands on the issues:
Says that we don’t need more tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy
Previously vetoed versions of a bill that ordered North Carolina sheriffs to comply with federal immigration requests
Has pledged to protect abortion rights in North Carolina
Vetoed bills aimed at banning gender-affirming health care for minors, restricting transgender participation in school sports and limiting classroom instruction about gender identity and sexuality
Launched the state’s first Opioid Action Plan
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Cooper’s relationship with Biden, Harris
Following Biden’s announcement he’d be leaving the race, Cooper praised him for stepping aside and endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee.
Cooper and Harris both served as attorney general of their respective states from 2011 to 2017, when Cooper was elected governor and Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate, and the two got to know each other.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper addresses a luncheon in honor of Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the North Carolina Executive Mansion, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP, Pool)
Cooper’s controversies
Cooper has spent much of his time as governor fighting a Republican supermajority. In his first two years, he vetoed 28 bills, and Republicans overrode 23 of them. In 2023, they overrode all 19 of his vetoes, and so far in 2024, he has vetoed five bills.
An appeals court ruled in April that Cooper’s orders during COVID-19 to keep bars closed when restaurants were open violated the state constitution.
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Cooper’s personal life
Cooper grew up in Nash County, North Carolina, and later earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He married his wife, Kristin, a lawyer from Oklahoma City, in 1992, and all three of their daughters also attended the University of North Carolina.
