NC’s Roy Cooper as Harris’ VP pick? What they’re saying, and who else is in the mix

With Vice President Kamala Harris’s search for a running mate now in full swing, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has emerged as one of a few leading Democrats being considered.

In the 48 hours since President Joe Biden dropped out and backed Harris to take over as the Democratic nominee, a small number of prominent Democrats, mostly from swing states, have been mentioned as top contenders Harris’s campaign is looking at. Cooper has been repeatedly included in those lists that are being reported by national media.

Multiple media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and NBC News, have also reported that Cooper is among a handful of contenders from whom the Harris campaign has requested vetting materials. NBC News reported Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona received those requests.

On Tuesday, ABC News reported that Kelly and Shapiro are the leading candidates, citing a “senior administration official.”

Cooper’s office declined to comment on the reports. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday after an event in Winston-Salem, Cooper said he wouldn’t talk about whether he had been asked to provide vetting materials or comment on the process while it is underway.

“I want to respect her process, give her the space to pick the best person, and I’m just not going to comment on her process,” he said, according to a video published by WRAL of his comments to the press.

Cooper said he thinks there’s a “long list of Democrats who could do an amazing job” as Harris’s vice president.

“She has extraordinary people to pick from, and I trust that she’s going to make the right decision, not only for her, but for the Democratic Party, and for the country,” Cooper said.

What’s been said about Cooper as a running mate?

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina emphasized the advantage of Cooper joining the campaign during an appearance on CNN Sunday night, in terms of the potential for the two-term governor to help Harris win a key battleground state that has eluded Democrats in presidential elections since 2008.

“North Carolina brings about 15 electoral votes; it will be a very good contest for us if you had Roy Cooper on the ticket,” Clyburn said while emphasizing he would support whoever Harris chose.

Clyburn mentioned Cooper as one of multiple potential picks that he said would be strong, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who previously chaired the Democratic National Committee and ran for president in 2004, also expressed support for Cooper, telling CNN last week that he believed Cooper could help deliver the state for Democrats.

“I think it’ll actually be easier for us to win North Carolina, for a variety of reasons, partly because they have a crackpot running on the other side, and they have a corrupt legislature which Cooper has done a great job of fending off, and the public knows that,” Dean said.

North Carolina Democrats supportive of Cooper

All 168 of North Carolina’s delegates to the Democratic National Convention voted Sunday night, hours after Biden dropped out of the race, to endorse Harris as the party’s presidential nominee. The delegates expressed support for Cooper to join the ticket as well.

The delegates were “enthusiastically supportive of Gov. Cooper becoming the nominee for our vice president,” N.C. Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton told McClatchy on Sunday.

Drew Kromer, the chair of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, told the Charlotte Observer that Harris becoming the new likely Democratic nominee has resulted in an “electric” surge of enthusiasm among Democrats at the local level.

Kromer said that voters are also excited about the possibility of Cooper joining the ticket, which he said shows how strong of a running mate and vice presidential candidate he would be.

U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross of Raleigh tweeted a photo of her and Cooper Tuesday afternoon, writing in the post: “I know who I would pick for VP.”

Another Democratic member of the congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel of Cary, told Bloomberg that Cooper is the “best choice” for Harris, hailing him as an “incredibly popular swing-state governor.”

Other North Carolina Democrats in Congress are also backing Cooper, and have indicated that they will make a case for him to the Harris campaign, Axios reported on Tuesday morning.

State Sen. Rachel Hunt, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, meanwhile, told the Observer that “there is nothing that would excite North Carolinians more than having (Cooper) as vice president.”

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