As COVID-19 affects NC governor’s race, Forest wants more from Cooper on reopening

Dan Forest, North Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, has been mostly quiet during Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s response to COVID-19, after initially questioning one of Cooper’s first executive orders that restricted dine-in service at restaurants.

But now Forest is among other Republicans calling for Cooper, his opponent in the November election, to announce a specific plan for starting to reopen the state’s economy. The statewide stay-at-home order expires April 29. Cooper told reporters on Tuesday that he would announce decisions on the stay-at-home order and schools later this week.

Here’s where Forest stands on various aspects of North Carolina’s COVID-19 response:

Schools reopening

Cooper said he will announce this week when to reopen schools, which are now closed through May 15 and have started online learning in the meantime.

Forest “would like to see students return to school this year because education should always be one of our top priorities. However, the Governor still hasn’t been forthcoming with the data necessary to evaluate whether this is feasible,” Forest spokesperson Andrew Dunn said in an email Wednesday to The News & Observer.

Council of State

Cooper and Forest’s interaction during the past two Council of State meetings has been very brief and cordial. The Council of State is a bipartisan group of elected agency leaders that includes the lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer and labor commissioner. At the start of the past two meetings, which are held monthly, Cooper thanked each council member for what they’ve been doing, including Forest.

Forest’s earlier criticism of Cooper was about making the restaurant decision without the support of Republican Council of State members, who were informed and asked by email. The News & Observer has requested the public records of the email exchanges.

What other states are doing

In Forest’s statement Wednesday, he said it’s time for Cooper “to have a sense of urgency to reopen our economy and allow people to return to their livelihoods.”

Forest cited South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia — which all have Republican governors — announcing their reopening plans.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s lifting of restrictions on businesses has been met with caution from some business owners, the Associated Press reported.

North Carolina’s other border state, Virginia, has a Democratic governor. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order lasts until June 10 and schools there are out for the year.

PPE supply

Cooper and other state officials have said the state needs more personal protective equipment, known as PPE supplies, from the federal government. Cooper said he asked Vice President Mike Pence for more of it during a conference call that Pence held with all governors earlier this week. On Tuesday, N.C. Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry said the state especially needs more gowns.

Forest said that the state should stop waiting on the federal government’s personal protective equipment supply and testing, and provide for themselves.

“North Carolina must have a sense of urgency to reopen. We can do two things at once — protect lives and livelihoods. The citizens of our great state deserve nothing less,” Forest said in a statement Wednesday.

ReOpenNC protest

While other Republican politicians and candidates attended the ReOpenNC protest downtown on Tuesday, Forest did not.

Dunn said that while Forest wasn’t at the protest, “he did make a personal call with a few of the organizers earlier this week to hear their concerns. He also encouraged protesters to follow all laws and best practices regarding social distancing.”

Former Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican who was briefly floated as a potential primary challenger to Forest, did as well, in a tweet on Wednesday:

“Agree with protesters in Raleigh that NC needs to begin process to reopen but our social distancing needs to continue whenever possible and that includes protesters! ... Don’t put your stupid hat on!”

The Forest campaign also said the lack of enough benchmark data to follow President Donald Trump’s plan for lifting restrictions is “unacceptable” and called it the main factor driving the ReOpenNC protests. Forest also wants Cooper to let counties make decisions about lifting restrictions.

In the Forest campaign’s latest video, campaign manager Hal Weatherman said that Forest has donated $200,000 in coronavirus relief. Weatherman said that Forest has donated to “dozens of individuals and business owners around the state” from his campaign account.

However, the campaign will not say who the recipients are yet.

“All will be disclosed in due time,” Dunn said.

Cooper campaign response

Liz Doherty, Cooper’s campaign spokesperson, responded to the Forest campaign’s questioning of Cooper’s plan and call for more data.

“This is an extremely dangerous game for Dan Forest to play — he continues to sow confusion and division during a crisis just to score political points,” Doherty said in an emailed statement.