Gov. Roy Cooper endorses Kamala Harris following Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of 2024 Presidential race

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — With his name bubbling up amid the uncertainty of who will be the Democratic presidential nominee, Gov. Roy Cooper signaled his support for another candidate.

Cooper had previously been floated as a possible candidate to run for president in 2028. That scenario took for granted that Joe Biden would serve a second term.

During Kamala Harris’ visit to Fayetteville on Thursday, Cooper gave an impassioned speech supporting Biden and Harris. During that speech, he got a big applause for the following line attacking Donald Trump:

“He’s a convicted felon, a chronic liar and the king of chaos,” Cooper said. “Do we want Donald Trump’s America?”

At that same event, Harris made a point of shouting out Cooper, calling him a dear friend and mentioning their work together as attorneys general.

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Cooper has not publicly said if he was interested in the role of Vice President. He’s also been talked about as a possible Senate candidate in 2026. That’s when Thom Tillis’ seat will come up for re-election. In 2020, Tillis beat Cal Cunningham by just under 100,000 votes.

At least some of Cooper’s appeal as a national candidate revolves around his popularity in the state, which is one of the most important for winning the presidency in 2024. North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes are critical for both parties when doing the math to get their candidate to the 270 needed to win.

“He has been successful, and so Democrats will look at that and say, ‘Look, this is this is a good candidate in the South. This is a person who puts North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes squarely into play,'” said Mitch Kokai a political analyst with the conservative John Locke Foundation.

North Carolina is also a closely divided state politically. The Republican Party ranks third and the Democrat Party ranks second as far as party affiliation in North Carolina. The top ranked party affiliation in the state is unaffiliated, according to North Carolina State Board of Elections date.

That political make up means the state is often up for grabs and can swing parties, especially in national elections.

Barack Obama was the last Democrat to win the state in a presidential election. Donald Trump won North Carolina both in 2016 and 2020, but his margin of victory in 2020 shrank. It was 173,315 votes against Hillary Clinton in 2016 but just 74,483 votes against Joe Biden in 2020.