North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper withdraws from Harris’ running mate search: reports

Emily Mikkelsen and Dolan Reynolds

5 minutes ago

(WGHP) — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has withdrawn himself from consideration to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ potential running mate, multiple news organizations, including The New York Times and the Associated Press, reported.

Cooper, 67, withdrew in part over concerns that his Republican lieutenant governor would seize control if he left the state if selected, two people familiar with the matter told the AP. Cooper, according to one of the people, has expressed concerns about what Robinson would do if he left the state extensively for campaign trips.

The governor withdrew before Harris formally began requesting screening materials from potential vice presidents, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive search process.

Harris’ search is still ongoing, and her teams of lawyers and political advisers are still sifting through information on the shrinking list of potential candidates.

Cooper, the former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, has had close ties with Harris since they both served as state attorneys general.

Recently appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, Cooper said he spoke with Harris as Democrats rallied around her after President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw.

“We understand you also had a conversation with the Vice President yesterday. How did that go?” Mika Brzezinski asked Cooper.

“It’s been great,” Cooper said. “We talked about winning this race. … This is a bottom-up type of thing, Mika. I think Kamala Harris is going to be in a position soon where she can really take off, and I’m excited and confident that she can win this presidency. So the excitement is definitely showing up in dollars and cents.”

Spokespeople for Cooper did not respond to requests for comment Monday evening.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.