Gov. Roy Cooper says he was not surprised to see how well the Republican party fared during last month’s midterm election in North Carolina because of the way districts are drawn.”When you look at the only fair districts that we had in place for our state were the congressional districts that the court drew, it ended up seven Democrats and seven Republicans. We’ve got a pretty even state, politically. But in the highly partisan extreme gerrymandered districts, yes, Republicans did well. That’s not surprising at all,” he says.The GOP captured a supermajority in the North Carolina Senate and finished one seat shy of a supermajority in the North Carolina House but also won a number of coveted statewide races where districts don’t come into play.With the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, Congressman Ted Budd defeated former State Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley by more than 120,000 votes in our U.S. Senate race. Republicans also flipped two State Supreme Court seats and will soon hold a 5-2 advantage when Richard Dietz and Trey Allen join the bench.Cooper says he is always willing to work with lawmakers on the other side of the aisle but will hold the line on certain issues that he believes will be bad for the state, economically”One thing I know that we don’t need is these culture war, business-killing laws that this legislature has passed before. I’m hoping they don’t happen again. I will veto that kind of legislation again and I believe we will be able to hold it,” he says.There are things he would like to see the state legislature move forward on during his final two years as governor.”I think medical marijuana has passed the senate this past year and I think that has an opportunity to pass. I do believe that we should decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in that it has been applied in a discriminatory way,” he says.Cooper would also be in favor of a law carefully crafted to allow sports gambling in North Carolina because he says, “it’s happening whether we like it or not.””I think it would be important for North Carolina to put a good, strong law in place and to make sure that the people of North Carolina, through tax money, to be able to enjoy some of the benefit of what’s going on already particularly in surrounding states,” he says.In the region, sports gambling is currently legal in Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee but not in South Carolina or Georgia.Additionally, Cooper is hoping to see action soon to increase security at the state’s critical infrastructure following the attacks at power substations in Moore County earlier this month.”I’ve already been talking with Duke Energy and other utilities. I’ve talked with our Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas on a federal level. There are thousands of these (substations) across the country. Protecting our critical infrastructure is crucial, and I do believe that we are going to do some things to make sure that they are safer so that we can avoid these kinds of incidences in the future. It is unacceptable,” he says.Cooper has held elected office in North Carolina since 1987 and has been one of the few Democrats to win a high-profile statewide race recently. He unseated incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory by a little more than 10-thousand votes in 2016 and followed that up with a win over former Lt. Gov. Dan Forest in 2020 by almost a quarter of a million votes. In the last decade, his party has lost all four of its US Senate races and the last Democratic Presidential candidate to win North Carolina was Barack Obama in 2008.Cooper says current Attorney General Josh Stein, considered by many to be a likely Gubernatorial candidate in 2024, is an important part of his party’s future in this state.”Attorney General Stein has done an amazing job representing the people of North Carolina, fighting for consumers. He has been elected a couple of times. Our Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, has been elected a number of times. Our State Auditor, Beth Wood, has been elected statewide. I think clearly there is a great future for Democrats in North Carolina but I think what people are going to be looking at is- how you’re going to move our state forward? What are you going to do? What’s your platform? And I think a lot of people will tell you party’s not the driving motivation in their decision of who to vote for,” he says.In 2024, it will be the first time in a dozen years where we have a Presidential and Gubernatorial election in North Carolina but no US Senate race. Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat is up in 2026 and Sen.-elect Budd isn’t up until 2028.
Gov. Roy Cooper says he was not surprised to see how well the Republican party fared during last month’s midterm election in North Carolina because of the way districts are drawn.
“When you look at the only fair districts that we had in place for our state were the congressional districts that the court drew, it ended up seven Democrats and seven Republicans. We’ve got a pretty even state, politically. But in the highly partisan extreme gerrymandered districts, yes, Republicans did well. That’s not surprising at all,” he says.
The GOP captured a supermajority in the North Carolina Senate and finished one seat shy of a supermajority in the North Carolina House but also won a number of coveted statewide races where districts don’t come into play.
With the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, Congressman Ted Budd defeated former State Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley by more than 120,000 votes in our U.S. Senate race. Republicans also flipped two State Supreme Court seats and will soon hold a 5-2 advantage when Richard Dietz and Trey Allen join the bench.
Cooper says he is always willing to work with lawmakers on the other side of the aisle but will hold the line on certain issues that he believes will be bad for the state, economically
“One thing I know that we don’t need is these culture war, business-killing laws that this legislature has passed before. I’m hoping they don’t happen again. I will veto that kind of legislation again and I believe we will be able to hold it,” he says.
There are things he would like to see the state legislature move forward on during his final two years as governor.
“I think medical marijuana has passed the senate this past year and I think that has an opportunity to pass. I do believe that we should decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in that it has been applied in a discriminatory way,” he says.
Cooper would also be in favor of a law carefully crafted to allow sports gambling in North Carolina because he says, “it’s happening whether we like it or not.”
“I think it would be important for North Carolina to put a good, strong law in place and to make sure that the people of North Carolina, through tax money, to be able to enjoy some of the benefit of what’s going on already particularly in surrounding states,” he says.
In the region, sports gambling is currently legal in Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee but not in South Carolina or Georgia.
Additionally, Cooper is hoping to see action soon to increase security at the state’s critical infrastructure following the attacks at power substations in Moore County earlier this month.
“I’ve already been talking with Duke Energy and other utilities. I’ve talked with our Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas on a federal level. There are thousands of these (substations) across the country. Protecting our critical infrastructure is crucial, and I do believe that we are going to do some things to make sure that they are safer so that we can avoid these kinds of incidences in the future. It is unacceptable,” he says.
Cooper has held elected office in North Carolina since 1987 and has been one of the few Democrats to win a high-profile statewide race recently.
He unseated incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory by a little more than 10-thousand votes in 2016 and followed that up with a win over former Lt. Gov. Dan Forest in 2020 by almost a quarter of a million votes. In the last decade, his party has lost all four of its US Senate races and the last Democratic Presidential candidate to win North Carolina was Barack Obama in 2008.
Cooper says current Attorney General Josh Stein, considered by many to be a likely Gubernatorial candidate in 2024, is an important part of his party’s future in this state.
“Attorney General Stein has done an amazing job representing the people of North Carolina, fighting for consumers. He has been elected a couple of times. Our Secretary of State, Elaine Marshall, has been elected a number of times. Our State Auditor, Beth Wood, has been elected statewide. I think clearly there is a great future for Democrats in North Carolina but I think what people are going to be looking at is- how you’re going to move our state forward? What are you going to do? What’s your platform? And I think a lot of people will tell you party’s not the driving motivation in their decision of who to vote for,” he says.
In 2024, it will be the first time in a dozen years where we have a Presidential and Gubernatorial election in North Carolina but no US Senate race. Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat is up in 2026 and Sen.-elect Budd isn’t up until 2028.
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