WASHINGTON – North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has chosen not to run as a candidate in Search for Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in part due to concerns that his Republican lieutenant governor would try to take control if he left the state to campaign as part of the Democratic ticket, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Cooper confirmed in a statement Monday night that he would not be Harris’ vice presidential running mate, saying he was “honored” to be considered, but “this simply wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to be potentially not a national ticket.” The 67-year-old governor withdrew from the race long before Harris’ vetting process began and never submitted the necessary materials, according to two people. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate search process.
Harris’ search continues and her teams of lawyers and political advisers are still analyzing information about a dwindling list of possible candidates.
Harris’ team initially was looking at about a dozen potential candidates, but the field has narrowed and now Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly are seen as the front-runners, according to People .
Cooper, the former president of the Democratic Governors Association, has been close to Harris since they were both state attorneys general. His potential selection was seen as a possible asset to shift North Carolina – the Democrats’ only significant opportunity to expand their 2020 map – into Harris’ hands.
Under the state constitution, North Carolina lieutenant governor Mark Robinson, who is the Republican Party’s nominee to replace the term-limited Cooper, becomes acting governor and can presume the Democrat’s powers when he travels out of state.
Cooper, according to two people, expressed concern about what Robinson might do if he left the state for too long for campaign trips. Cooper’s legal team, as well as some outside experts, do not believe Robinson would actually assume the powers that come with being governor, such as issuing executive orders. But the governor was concerned enough, said one of the people familiar with the matter, that Robinson tried to take steps that could provoke litigation and create distractions in North Carolina, one of the most politically critical states in the country for both the presidency and the presidency. his presidency. race for governor.
Robinson is an ardent social conservative, who once called abortion “child sacrifice.” In several church pulpits, Robinson affirmed men as the legitimate leaders in the church and society. He once reflected that the leaders of the original U.S. birth control movement were “witches, all of them.” He discussed LGBTQ people with words like “filth” and “worms.”
In the weeks before President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, Cooper appeared with Harris at campaign events in Greensboro and Fayetteville. He had avoided questions about the verification process.
“I trust she will make the right decision,” he recently told reporters in North Carolina.
The New York Times first reported that Cooper withdrew from the lawsuit, but did not detail the timing of his decision or its rationale. Harris’ campaign declined to comment.
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AP Writer Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed.
