NC Gov. Cooper weighs in on Harris running mate selection as field grows

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said Thursday he wants Vice President Kamala Harris to choose a running mate who will “give her the best chance to win” as new reporting shows Cooper is among a growing field of people being considered.

Cooper spoke at a Harris campaign event, trying to make the case for why he believes she’s suited to take on former President Donald Trump.

“There are a lot of people that she can choose. She’s gonna make the right choice. I just want her to choose the person that’s going to give her the best chance to win. And, there will be a lot of factors that go into that,” Cooper said.

The governor declined to say whether he’s received a request for documents as part of the vetting process.

The Associated Press reports former Atty. Gen. Eric Holder and lawyers at his firm are taking the lead in the vetting process.

The number of people under consideration is about a dozen, the AP reports. That includes names that have been frequently mentioned, such as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly along with Cooper. It also includes current Cabinet secretaries Pete Buttigieg and Gina Raimondo as well as some people not currently in government positions.

“I trust her to make the right decision,” said Cooper. “I am for Kamala Harris because I have known her for 12 years. I have watched her work as a prosecutor. I’ve watched her work protecting consumers.”

On Sunday, when President Biden announced he was exiting the race, Cooper said he spoke with him.

He said, “99.9% of the time, doing the right thing is fighting through adversity. But, he had come to the conclusion, and I think most people believe that it was the right conclusion that fighting through the adversity was not the right thing. But, the right thing to do was what he actually did.”

Within hours of the announcement, North Carolina’s Democratic delegates unanimously backed Harris as well as Cooper to be her running mate.

Devin Freeman, who is going into his senior year at North Carolina Central University, is one of the delegates who will attend the convention next month in Chicago.

“There was no debate. Everyone got completely behind her as unifying,” he said about whether the delegates discussed whether to support a more open process with other candidates.

On Gov. Cooper, Freeman said, “Out of all the other potential vice president picks, he’s the one that can also work with getting rural Americans together so we can build the coalitions.”

Republican Sen. Ted Budd was asked about the prospects of Cooper appearing on the ticket during an interview on NewsNation.

“Well, they tried it with Al Gore and they tried it with John Edwards, and I don’t think it’ll work with Roy Cooper. So, good luck with that. But, again, they’ll have to make their decision and we’ll wait and weigh in when she does make that decision,” he said.

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