Roy Cooper Leaves Harris's Vice-Presidential Campaign
The governor of North Carolina, Mr. Cooper, was considered to be among the top six contenders to join the Democratic presidential ticket.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who was widely considered a strong candidate to be the running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, has withdrawn from the vice-presidential race.
In a Monday night social media post, Mr. Cooper confirmed the news that had been previously reported by The New York Times. Mr. Cooper stated, "This just wasn't the right time for me to potentially be on a national ticket and for North Carolina. She has a fantastic list of candidates to choose from, and we'll all do our best to ensure her victory."
Former Democratic Governors Association chairman Mr. Cooper was asked to be considered for vice president by the Harris campaign last week, but he declined, according to two people involved in the process who spoke anonymously to describe private discussions. According to one of the persons, the Cooper team contacted the Harris campaign on Monday of last week to let them know he did not want to be considered. That day marked President Biden's withdrawal from the contest and his endorsement of Ms. Harris as his running mate.
According to the two individuals, Mr. Cooper was concerned that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a hardline Republican running for office this year, might file a lawsuit to take over his executive authority while he was out of state. Although Mr. Cooper did not think Mr. Robinson would succeed, he did think that if he had been added to the ticket, any challenge of that nature would have been a wild distraction.
A Harris campaign representative declined to comment.
Mr. Cooper has been acquainted with Ms. Harris since their mutual days as state attorneys general, and they have also recently campaigned together. In North Carolina, a battleground state, he has won the governor's race twice, despite Donald J. Trump winning the state in the presidential election. Mr. Cooper is barred from running for office a third time.
Despite being a decade younger than Mr. Trump, Mr. Cooper, 67, is older than Ms. Harris, 59. He is seen as the leading candidate from the Democratic Party of North Carolina to unseat Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who is up for reelection in 2026.
In an attempt to choose a running mate as soon as possible, Ms. Harris is hoping to decide by August 7th, which is just over two weeks after she entered the campaign to unseat President Biden on the Democratic ticket. In addition to Mr. Cooper, other notable candidates receiving significant attention are Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
All of the remaining front-runners are white males. All except Mr. Buttigieg have a track record of winning elections in politically diverse areas. For example, Mr. Shapiro won his attorney general contest in 2016 when Mr. Trump carried Pennsylvania, Mr. Walz represented a conservative House district before winning the governorship, Mr. Kelly has won Arizona twice in the last four years, and Mr. Beshear has won elections in deep-red Kentucky.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, who may have been a vice-presidential candidate if she hadn't withdrawn from the race last week, joined Mr. Shapiro on Monday as they campaigned for Ms. Harris in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Speaking to roughly 1,000 supporters, Mr. Shapiro declared, "I want a future that is cleaner and greener. I want a future full of freedom, one with safer streets and better schools. I want to look the 47th President of the United States in the eye and say, 'Madam President.'"
The list of potential vice-presidential candidates has been reduced to five, according to two individuals familiar with the process; however, the Harris campaign has interviewed twelve candidates. They were not authorized to discuss private conversations, so they spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Adm. William H. McRaven, the former commander of the United States Special Operations Command, is the only other known vice-presidential candidate to have withdrawn from the race. He announced his withdrawal last week.
The vetting process for Ms. Harris began last week and is expected to continue until this weekend. She has not yet had face-to-face meetings with any of the potential running mates. Initial candidate interviews have been conducted via video calls with members of her campaign staff.
In recent days, several of those candidates have been publicly advocating for Ms. Harris, effectively auditioning for the role. Mr. Buttigieg appeared on Fox News over the weekend, and on Monday night, he joined Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show." Mr. Walz, who has been a frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, was also featured in Runner's World magazine. Mr. Beshear campaigned in Georgia.
Authors:
Shane Goldmacher is a national political reporter, covering the 2024 election as well as the key events, trends, and forces shaping American politics. He can be reached at shane.goldmacher@nytimes.com.
Reid J. Epstein covers elections and campaigns from Washington. He joined The Times in 2019 after positions at Politico, Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.4o