Summary

Current Position: Governor since 2017
Affiliation: Democrat
Former Positions: Attorney General from 2001 – 2017; State Senator from 1991 – 2001; US Representative from 1987 – 1991

While in law school, then-Governor Jim Hunt appointed Cooper to the State Goals and Policy Board, an advisory group that sought to achieve long- and short-range goals and policies for the state. Hunt also appointed Cooper to the Interim Balance Growth Board and the North Carolina 2000 Commission. In 1982, Cooper joined the law firm Fields, Cooper & Henderson in Nashville, North Carolina, the same firm his father had been a member o. Three years later, he was named a partner in the firm.[16]

Cooper served as the Rocky Mount and Nash County chairman of Lauch Faircloth’s unsuccessful 1984 gubernatorial campaign. He was a member of the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Visitors.

Featured Quote: 
Business is thriving in North Carolina, and it’s not hard to see why — our talented workers, welcoming communities and nationally-ranked universities and community colleges continue bringing more companies to our great state.

Coronavirus Briefing: NC Gov. Roy Cooper (07/21/21)

OnAir Post: Roy Cooper – NC

News

About

Source: Government page

Roy Cooper 1Roy Cooper is a trusted leader and family man who is honored to serve as North Carolina’s Governor.

Roy Cooper has spent nearly three decades in public service protecting families, keeping communities safe, and working to create jobs and improve schools. The son of a school teacher, he knows that education creates opportunity and he has worked throughout his career to strengthen our schools and create a sound foundation for our state’s children.

In the NC House and Senate, Roy Cooper fought to increase teacher pay and reduce class sizes. He wrote North Carolina’s first children’s health insurance initiative. During his service in the legislature, Roy Cooper worked with members of both parties to get balanced budgets that raised teacher pay to the national average, grow the economy and cut taxes for middle class families.

In 2000, the people of North Carolina elected Roy Cooper as Attorney General, where he continued to fight for families during his four terms. He cracked down on child predators, worked to increase penalties for drug dealers, and oversaw a sharp decrease in crime. He partnered with law enforcement and school administrators to make schools safer, and helped protect victims of domestic violence and stalking. He also made protecting consumers a priority, fighting to keep utility rates low, put predatory lenders out of business, and help families fend off telemarketers.

Roy Cooper entered public service to fight for communities like the one where he grew up. Born and raised in Nash County, he attended public schools and worked summers on the family farm before attending UNC-Chapel Hill on a Morehead Scholarship. His mother, Beverly Cooper, worked as a school teacher, and his father, Roy Cooper Jr., farmed and practiced law.

After earning a law degree from UNC, Roy Cooper returned home to Nash County to practice law and, with his wife Kristin, raise three daughters – Hilary, Natalie, and Claire.  He taught Sunday School, served as an elder and deacon in his church, and tutored students in local schools.

Roy Cooper believes in the potential of our great state and its people. He knows that we can build a state and an economy that work for everyone. By investing in our public schools and giving students the tools they need to succeed, creating good jobs and raising incomes for the middle class, and strengthening our communities, North Carolinians can live and work in places they are proud to call home.

Personal

Full Name: Roy Asberry Cooper III

Gender: Male

Family: Wife: Kristin; 3 Children: Hilary, Natalie, Claire

Birth Date: 06/13/1957

Birth Place: Nash County, NC

Home City: Rocky Mount, NC

Religion: Presbyterian

Source:

Education

JD, University of North Carolina School of Law, 1982

BA, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1979

Political Experience

Governor, State of North Carolina, 2017-present

Candidate, Governor of North Carolina, 2020

Attorney General, State of North Carolina, 2000-2017

Senator, North Carolina State Senate, 1991-2000

Representative, North Carolina State House of Representatives, 1987-1991

Professional Experience

Instructor, Continuing Legal Education

Partner, Fields and Cooper Law Firm, 1982-2000

Office

North Carolina Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Phone: (919)814-2000

Contact

Email: Government

Web Links

Politics

Source: none

Election Results

To learn more, go to this wikipedia section in this post.

Finances

Source: Open Secrets

New Legislation

Issues

Source: Government page

Jobs/Economy
North Carolina succeeds by creating good-paying jobs that put more money in the pockets of hardworking North Carolinians. Under Governor Cooper’s leadership, North Carolina announced more than 40,000 new jobs for both urban and rural parts of our state

North Carolina is home to more than 800,000 small businesses and Governor Cooper is committed to helping them thrive. He has proposed help for small businesses with early-stage technology development and grant funding to help small- and mid-sized communities transition into an innovation-based economy.

To bring opportunity to struggling areas, he has proposed the Rural Investments Strengthening Economies (RISE) Program to revitalize communities and encourage companies to locate or expand in North Carolina’s 80 rural counties. In addition, he is pushing for expanded broadband access, which is key to small business success in rural areas. Governor Cooper knows that we must focus on making North Carolina’s economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. His administration focuses on putting more money in the pockets of working families by strengthening existing companies, recruiting new businesses, and helping small businesses start up and grow.
Education
Governor Cooper is working to strengthen our education system from early childhood through postsecondary education and make the investments necessary to ensure that all North Carolina students have access to a high-quality public education. He has proposed solutions to keep our public schools strong and make North Carolina a Top Ten Educated State by 2025.

A quality teacher in every classroom and a quality principal in every school make for great public schools – and our children deserve nothing less.

In his latest budget, Governor Cooper proposed an average 9.1% teacher pay raise over the next two years, with every teacher receiving at least a 3% raise each year, to get North Carolina on track to best in the Southeast for teacher pay by 2023.

It’s been over 20 years since North Carolina passed a school construction bond, and the Governor’s proposed budget supports a $3.9 billion bond to build and renovate public schools and meet other key infrastructure needs.

In recent years, too many tragedies have taken place at our nation’s schools. Governor Cooper is committed to keeping students and schools safe. He has proposed more funding to update school facilities, hire more nurses, counselors, and mental health professionals in schools, and increase funding for school resource officers, along with common sense gun legislation.

For decades, North Carolina’s world-class community colleges and universities have had a reputation for excellence. Governor Cooper is committed to maintaining that reputation with continued investments and ongoing support.
Healthcare
Governor Cooper is working to help North Carolinians live healthier, more abundant and purposeful lives. His experience helping write and pass the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) showed the importance of getting coverage to keep families healthy. Governor Cooper is leading the charge to close the health care coverage gap by expanding access to Medicaid. This would cover over 500,000 North Carolinians, bring more than $4 billion into our economy, create 40,000 new jobs, and help control private insurance premiums, which are benefits a majority of other states are getting from expanding Medicaid.

Expanding access to health care would also combat the drug use crisis plaguing our communities. Governor Cooper put in place North Carolina’s first opioid action plan, served on the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, and signed the STOP Act to stop over prescription of highly addictive drugs.
Workforce Development
Workforce development is a primary focus for Governor Cooper as he seeks to ensure more North Carolinians are ready for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Governor Cooper’s NC Job Ready initiative is helping people get good-paying jobs to support themselves and their families by investing in workforce development and job training. NC Job Ready helps connect workers with job training and employers with the skilled workers they need to grow and succeed.

To help people complete the training they need to get good jobs, Governor Cooper created the Finish Line Grants program. The program helps community college students who face unforeseen financial emergencies like medical bills, car repairs and childcare costs stay in school. Already, more than 500 Finish Line Grants have helped students stay on track to getting a good-paying job. Governor Cooper wants to expand the program to students at all colleges in North Carolina.

Gov. Cooper and other North Carolina leaders are committed to the My Future NC goal of ensuring that 2 million working-age North Carolinians have a degree or credential beyond high school by 2030. To get there, he proposed NC GROW (Getting Ready for Opportunities in the Workforce) a scholarship and aid program to help people get community college degrees and job training.  NC GROW would cover last-dollar tuition and fees for North Carolina community college students enrolled in high-demand fields like construction, information technology, and electrical line work. The program would also provide up to $1,000 per community college student to pursue non-credit, short-term workforce credentials for jobs in these fields.

Learn more about Governor Cooper’s efforts to build a strong workforce.
Environment
Protecting our state’s natural resources is critical for our families and our economy. North Carolina is a proud leader in renewable energy. We are second in the nation in solar energy, creating thousands of jobs and reducing harmful emissions. Governor Cooper supports continued investments in renewable energy that advance our economy and help our environment.

Governor Cooper is also leading the fight to protect North Carolina’s coast from offshore drilling. Offshore drilling threatens North Carolina’s $3 billion coastal tourism industry and could cost the commercial and recreational fishing communities hundreds of millions of dollars. Governor Cooper is working across party lines with other state and local leaders to stand up to the federal government and say, “not off our coast.”

To ensure North Carolina’s commitment to fight climate change and lead North Carolina’s transition to a clean energy economy, Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order No. 80. The executive order calls for the State of North Carolina to protect North Carolina’s environment while growing clean energy technologies.

Every family in North Carolina deserves access to clean drinking water and air. Governor Cooper is pushing to ensure that North Carolina has the resources we need to keep our environment safe and hold polluters accountable.  His budget invests in more resources to analyze pollutants, encourage clean energy, and protect waterways and green space. Learn more about how Governor Cooper wants to invest in protecting our environment.
Disaster Recovery
Help can never arrive soon enough to those affected by disasters. And, unfortunately, North Carolina is no stranger to natural disasters. Whether the harm comes from tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires or other disasters, Governor Cooper is committed to ensuring that North Carolinians get the help they need after disaster strikes.

In recent years, North Carolina has been hit especially hard, with Hurricanes Florence, Matthew and Michael causing billions of dollars in damage. But North Carolina is stronger than any storm, and Governor Cooper’s administration is working with federal, state and local partners to rebuild.

North Carolinians have gotten more than $1 billion in help recovering with more on the way to continue making families and communities whole.  North Carolina has seen progress as families have returned home, roads and bridges have been repaired and businesses have reopened, but more work remains to rebuild resilient communities.

To ensure North Carolina is prepared for future hurricanes, the Administration has focused on flood mapping key areas and moving and elevating homes that are at risk in future storms. Governor Cooper has created a new agency, the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resilience, to help our state rebuild stronger and smarter. He’s requested billions of dollars in additional help recovering from Hurricane Florence, and he also wants to invest to prepare for future disasters.
Military/ Veterans
North Carolina is the most military friendly state in the nation. Governor Cooper is proud that North Carolina has the third largest military presence in the country, as well as more than 720,000 veterans who call our state home.

Governor Cooper knows we owe these veterans, servicemembers and their families a debt of gratitude for sacrificing to protect our safety.

To help make North Carolina a welcoming place for servicemembers who are transitioning into civilian life, Governor Cooper established the Governor’s Working Group on Veterans Affairs, which focuses on job creation, workforce enrichment, health and wellness, legal and financial services and benefits for veterans.

North Carolina is making progress on reducing homelessness among veterans and, according to the latest information, veteran homelessness in North Carolina decreased by more than 5percent from 2017 to 2018.
Infrastructure
As our state and economy continue to grow, North Carolina’s families and businesses need roads, bridges, and technology infrastructure to keep thriving. Governor Cooper is working with state and local leaders to address our state’s infrastructure needs.

Governor Cooper and his Department of Transportation successfully passed the Build NC Bond Act with support from Democrats and Republicans. This law will help expedite critical highway projects, improving the everyday lives of people all over the state and encouraging businesses to grow and locate in North Carolina.

Governor Cooper also knows that access to broadband is a must for economic success in our rural communities and across the state. He proposed funding to improve internet access and service to households and businesses in underserved areas of North Carolina, including a grant program to help local governments partnering with private providers and utility cooperatives complete ‘last mile’ broadband projects.
Public Safety
Public safety is a core priority for state government, and Governor Cooper is committed to keeping families and communities safe.

Governor Cooper recognizes that state prisons can and should be made safer for those who work in them. Correctional officers do a difficult and demanding job, and Governor Cooper’s prison safety solutions include additional training, enhanced surveillance and updated technology and facilities. He has supported investments to increase compensation and retirement benefits for correctional officers that can help recruit and retain talent

Throughout his career, Governor Cooper has championed commonsense efforts to help formerly incarcerated people become productive members of their communities. Governor Cooper tasked the Department of Public Safety with developing a Reentry Action Plan to comprehensively address re-entry issues and improve the transition for people returning from jail or prison.

Governor Cooper’s administration has focused on cross-cutting strategies to improve school safety across North Carolina. Experts from law enforcement, schools, juvenile justice, emergency fire and medical services and emergency managers have convened to ensure schools have the resources and support they need to prevent a tragedy or respond in a worst-case scenario.
Early Childhood
The foundation for future learning, health, and well-being is built during early childhood. Governor Cooper wants all North Carolina children to get off to a strong start in safe and nurturing families and communities, with access to high-quality opportunities to learn and thrive. we give children a fair chance for a strong foundation in their first years of life,

The NC Early Childhood Action Plan released on February 27, 2019 and created at Governor Cooper’s direction lays out a bold vision and roadmap for how the state can create better futures for our young children by 2025. Governor Cooper’s budget makes critical investments toward achieving these goals to ensure North Carolina’s children are healthy, safe and nurtured, and ready to succeed, including increased investment in Smart Start and NC Pre-K.

Learn more about how Governor Cooper wants to invest in early childhood.

Economy

Jobs and Economy

Building an Economy that Works for Everyone

North Carolina succeeds by creating good-paying jobs that put more money in the pockets of hardworking North Carolinians. Under Governor Cooper’s leadership, North Carolina announced more than 60,000 new jobs for both urban and rural parts of our state

North Carolina is home to more than 800,000 small businesses and Governor Cooper is committed to helping them thrive. He has proposed help for small businesses with early-stage technology development and grant funding to help small- and mid-sized communities transition into an innovation-based economy.

To bring opportunity to struggling areas, he has proposed the Rural Investments Strengthening Economies (RISE) Program to revitalize communities and encourage companies to locate or expand in North Carolina’s 80 rural counties. In addition, he is pushing for expanded broadband access, which is key to small business success in rural areas. Governor Cooper knows that we must focus on making North Carolina’s economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. His administration focuses on putting more money in the pockets of working families by strengthening existing companies, recruiting new businesses, and helping small businesses start up and grow.

Workforce Development

Making North Carolina Job Ready

Workforce development is a primary focus for Governor Cooper as he seeks to ensure more North Carolinians are ready for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Governor Cooper’s NC Job Ready initiative is helping people get good-paying jobs to support themselves and their families by investing in workforce development and job training. NC Job Ready helps connect workers with job training and employers with the skilled workers they need to grow and succeed.

To help people complete the training they need to get good jobs, Governor Cooper created the Finish Line Grants program. The program helps community college students who face unforeseen financial emergencies like medical bills, car repairs and childcare costs stay in school. Already, more than 3,000 Finish Line Grants have helped students stay on track to getting a good-paying job. Governor Cooper wants to expand the program to students at all colleges in North Carolina.

Gov. Cooper and other North Carolina leaders are committed to the My Future NC goal of ensuring that 2 million working-age North Carolinians have a degree or credential beyond high school by 2030. To get there, he proposed NC GROW (Getting Ready for Opportunities in the Workforce) a scholarship and aid program to help people get community college degrees and job training.  NC GROW would cover last-dollar tuition and fees for North Carolina community college students enrolled in high-demand fields like construction, information technology, and electrical line work. The program would also provide up to $1,000 per community college student to pursue non-credit, short-term workforce credentials for jobs in these fields.

Education

Early Childhood

Building a Strong Foundation for North Carolina’s Children

The foundation for future learning, health, and well-being is built during early childhood. Governor Cooper wants all North Carolina children to get off to a strong start in safe and nurturing families and communities, with access to high-quality opportunities to learn and thrive. When we give children a fair chance for a strong foundation in their first years of life, we give them a better future and create healthier and more vibrant communities for all of us.

The NC Early Childhood Action Plan released on February 27, 2019 and created at Governor Cooper’s direction lays out a bold vision and roadmap for how the state can create better futures for our young children by 2025. Governor Cooper’s budget makes critical investments toward achieving these goals to ensure North Carolina’s children are healthy, safe and nurtured, and ready to succeed, including increased investment in Smart Start and NC Pre-K.

Education

Investing in Our Future

Governor Cooper is working to strengthen our education system from early childhood through postsecondary education and make the investments necessary to ensure that all North Carolina students have access to a high-quality public education. He has proposed solutions to keep our public schools strong and make North Carolina a Top Ten Educated State by 2025.

A quality teacher in every classroom and a quality principal in every school make for great public schools – and our children deserve nothing less.

In his latest budget, Governor Cooper proposed an average 9.1% teacher pay raise over the next two years, with every teacher receiving at least a 3% raise each year, to get North Carolina on track to best in the Southeast for teacher pay by 2023.

It’s been over 20 years since North Carolina passed a school construction bond, and the Governor’s proposed budget supports a $3.9 billion bond to build and renovate public schools and meet other key infrastructure needs.

In recent years, too many tragedies have taken place at our nation’s schools. Governor Cooper is committed to keeping students and schools safe. He has proposed more funding to update school facilities, hire more nurses, counselors, and mental health professionals in schools, and increase funding for school resource officers, along with common sense gun legislation.

For decades, North Carolina’s world-class community colleges and universities have had a reputation for excellence. Governor Cooper is committed to maintaining that reputation with continued investments and ongoing support.

Environment

Environment

Protecting our Environment

Protecting our state’s natural resources is critical for our families and our economy. North Carolina is a proud leader in renewable energy. We are second in the nation in solar energy, creating thousands of jobs and reducing harmful emissions. Governor Cooper supports continued investments in renewable energy that advance our economy and help our environment.

Governor Cooper is also leading the fight to protect North Carolina’s coast from offshore drilling. Offshore drilling threatens North Carolina’s $3 billion coastal tourism industry and could cost the commercial and recreational fishing communities hundreds of millions of dollars. Governor Cooper is working across party lines with other state and local leaders to stand up to the federal government and say, “not off our coast.”

To ensure North Carolina’s commitment to fight climate change and lead North Carolina’s transition to a clean energy economy, Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order No. 80. The executive order calls for the State of North Carolina to protect North Carolina’s environment while growing clean energy technologies.

Every family in North Carolina deserves access to clean drinking water and air. Governor Cooper is pushing to ensure that North Carolina has the resources we need to keep our environment safe and hold polluters accountable.  His budget invests in more resources to analyze pollutants, encourage clean energy, and protect waterways and green space.

Health Care

Healthcare

A Healthier North Carolina

Governor Cooper is working to help North Carolinians live healthier, more abundant and purposeful lives. His experience helping write and pass the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) showed the importance of getting coverage to keep families healthy. Governor Cooper is leading the charge to close the health care coverage gap by expanding access to Medicaid. This would cover over 500,000 North Carolinians, bring more than $4 billion into our economy, create 40,000 new jobs, and help control private insurance premiums, which are benefits a majority of other states are getting from expanding Medicaid.

Expanding access to health care would also combat the drug use crisis plaguing our communities. Governor Cooper put in place North Carolina’s first opioid action plan, served on the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, and signed the STOP Act to stop over prescription of highly addictive drugs.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure

Building Infrastructure for the 21st Century

As our state and economy continue to grow, North Carolina’s families and businesses need roads, bridges, and technology infrastructure to keep thriving. Governor Cooper is working with state and local leaders to address our state’s infrastructure needs.

Governor Cooper and his Department of Transportation successfully passed the Build NC Bond Act with support from Democrats and Republicans. This law will help expedite critical highway projects, improving the everyday lives of people all over the state and encouraging businesses to grow and locate in North Carolina.

Governor Cooper also knows that access to broadband is a must for economic success in our rural communities and across the state. He proposed funding to improve internet access and service to households and businesses in underserved areas of North Carolina, including a grant program to help local governments partnering with private providers and utility cooperatives complete ‘last mile’ broadband projects.

Safety

Disaster Recovery

Recovering When Natural Disasters Strike

Help can never arrive soon enough to those affected by disasters. And, unfortunately, North Carolina is no stranger to natural disasters. Whether the harm comes from tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires or other disasters, Governor Cooper is committed to ensuring that North Carolinians get the help they need after disaster strikes.

In recent years, North Carolina has been hit especially hard, with Hurricanes Florence, Matthew and Michael causing billions of dollars in damage. But North Carolina is stronger than any storm, and Governor Cooper’s administration is working with federal, state and local partners to rebuild.

North Carolinians have gotten more than $1 billion in help recovering with more on the way to continue making families and communities whole.  North Carolina has seen progress as families have returned home, roads and bridges have been repaired and businesses have reopened, but more work remains to rebuild resilient communities.

To ensure North Carolina is prepared for future hurricanes, the Administration has focused on flood mapping key areas and moving and elevating homes that are at risk in future storms. Governor Cooper has created a new agency, the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resilience, to help our state rebuild stronger and smarter. He’s requested billions of dollars in additional help recovering from Hurricane Florence, and he also wants to invest to prepare for future disasters.

Public Safety

Public safety is a core priority for state government, and Governor Cooper is committed to keeping families and communities safe.

Governor Cooper recognizes that state prisons can and should be made safer for those who work in them. Correctional officers do a difficult and demanding job, and Governor Cooper’s prison safety solutions include additional training, enhanced surveillance and updated technology and facilities. He has supported investments to increase compensation and retirement benefits for correctional officers that can help recruit and retain talent

Throughout his career, Governor Cooper has championed commonsense efforts to help formerly incarcerated people become productive members of their communities. Governor Cooper tasked the Department of Public Safety with developing a Reentry Action Plan to comprehensively address re-entry issues and improve the transition for people returning from jail or prison.

Governor Cooper’s administration has focused on cross-cutting strategies to improve school safety across North Carolina. Experts from law enforcement, schools, juvenile justice, emergency fire and medical services and emergency managers have convened to ensure schools have the resources and support they need to prevent a tragedy or respond in a worst-case scenario.

Governor Cooper has created the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC), which is tasked with examining law enforcement and criminal justice in North Carolina. Guided by your feedback, the Task Force will develop and help implement solutions to eliminate disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system for communities of color.

More Information

Wikipedia

Roy Asberry Cooper III (/ˈkʊpər/ KUUP-ər[1][a]; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2017 as the 75th governor of North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 2001 to 2017, and in the North Carolina General Assembly, in both the House, from 1987 to 1991, and the Senate, from 1991 to 2001.[2]

Cooper graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1979. He began his career as a lawyer and in 1986 was elected to represent the 72nd district in the North Carolina House of Representatives. In 1991, he was appointed a member of the North Carolina Senate, a position he held until 2001. He was elected North Carolina Attorney General in 2000 and reelected in 2004, 2008, and 2012, serving just under 16 years, the second-longest tenure for an attorney general in the state’s history.

Cooper defeated Republican incumbent Pat McCrory for the governorship in a close race in the 2016 election.[3] This election made Cooper the first challenger to defeat a sitting governor in the state’s history. Cooper was reelected in 2020 against the Republican nominee, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest.[4] The Republican-dominated legislature passed bills in a special session to reduce the power of the governor’s office before he took office, but Cooper continued to emphasize increases in education and healthcare funding throughout his tenure, culminating in successful negotiations of statewide Medicaid expansion.

Early life and education

Roy Asberry Cooper III was born in Nashville, North Carolina, to Beverly Thorne (née Batchelor) (1929–2013), a teacher and Roy Asberry Cooper II (1927–2015), a lawyer and Democratic Party operative who was a close advisor to Jim Hunt; he later co-chaired Hunt’s successful 1976 gubernatorial campaign.[5][6][7] Cooper attended public schools and worked on his parents’ tobacco farm during summers.[8] He attended Northern Nash High School and as a senior was selected to represent Nash County in the Youth Legislative Assembly.[9] He graduated in 1975.[5]

Cooper received the Morehead Scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for his undergraduate studies. As an undergraduate at UNC, he was a member of the Chi Psi fraternity and was elected president of the university’s Young Democrats.[10] He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1982.[5]

Early career

While Cooper was still in law school, then-Governor Jim Hunt appointed him to the State Goals and Policy Board, an advisory group that sought to achieve long- and short-range goals and policies for the state.[11] He was the youngest person ever to serve on the board.[12] Hunt also appointed Cooper to the Interim Balance Growth Board and the North Carolina 2000 Commission.[13] He was also a member of the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce and UNC-Chapel Hill‘s Board of Visitors.[14]

In 1982, Cooper joined the law firm Fields, Cooper & Henderson in Nashville, North Carolina, the same firm his father had been a founding member of.[15][16][17] Three years later, he was named a partner in the firm.[18] In 1984, Cooper served as the Rocky Mount and Nash County chairman of Lauch Faircloth’s unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign.[13]

State legislature

Cooper as a state senator

On November 19, 1985, Cooper filed to run for the North Carolina House of Representatives in the 72nd district.[19] He challenged 12-term incumbent Allen Barbee in the Democratic primary and ran on a campaign of supporting agriculture and resolving a school merger dispute in Nash County.[20][21] Cooper won the primary with 76% of the vote to Barbee’s 24%, including more than a six times gap in votes for Nash county (5,966 vs 884), and he was unopposed in the general election.[22][23]

Cooper continued to practice law while serving in the legislature.[24] The nonpartisan North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research ranked him the most effective freshman representative.[25] In January 1989, he joined Republicans and 20 other dissident Democrats to unseat Speaker Liston B. Ramsey in favor of Josephus Mavretic,[26] who appointed Cooper chair of the House Judiciary Committee, of which he had been a member during his first term.[27] Cooper also voted with all House Republicans and 15 Democrats in favor of an unsuccessful attempt to amend the constitution to grant the governor veto power over legislation.[28]

In February 1991, after State Senator Jim Ezzell was killed in a car crash, Cooper was appointed to the Senate to serve the remainder of Ezzell’s term representing the 10th district, which encompassed parts of Edgecombe, Halifax, Nash, and Wilson Counties.[29][30] In 1995, Cooper negotiated a compromise bill to schedule a referendum to amend the constitution and grant the governor veto power.[28] In July 1997, he was elected Majority leader of the Senate upon Richard Conder’s abrupt resignation.[31] During his last term in the Senate, he was elected to the North Carolina Bar Association‘s Board of Governors, a position he held until June 2002.[14]

Cooper’s accomplishments in the legislature include implementing penalties for minors who bring guns to school, making public records more accessible, toughening the state’s open meetings law, and giving the governor more veto power.[30]

North Carolina Attorney General

Elections

In January 2000, Cooper filed with the state Board of Elections to launch a campaign for North Carolina attorney general.[32] In the November general election, he defeated Republican lawyer Dan Boyce and Reform Party candidate Margaret Palms.[33] He took office on January 6, 2001, and was reelected in 2004. He was easily reelected in 2008, defeating Republican Bob Crumley and garnering more votes than any other statewide candidate that year.[34] Cooper ran unopposed for a fourth term in 2012,[35] and received 2,828,941 votes.[36]

Both state and national Democrats attempted to recruit Cooper to run for governor in 2008,[37] the U.S. Senate in 2010,[38] and again for governor in 2012, but he declined each time.[39] A 2009 Public Policy Polling survey matching him against incumbent U.S. Senator Richard Burr showed Cooper leading Burr by four points.[40]

Tenure

Attorney General Roy Cooper (second from the left) standing behind President Barack Obama as he delivers a speech, February 2012

In 2001, Cooper initiated legislation that established new mentoring and tutoring programs for middle and high school students out on short-term suspension.[41] Governor Mike Easley signed the bill in June of that year.[42]

In 2002, a controversy arose after the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles was accused of covering up the speeding citation issued for Democratic U.S. House candidate James Ferguson during the 2000 campaign, and the North Carolina Republican Party called on Cooper to launch an investigation.[43] Faced with potential fallout for investigating members of his own party, Cooper called on federal prosecutors to convene an investigative grand jury, arguing that they had powers to compel testimony not available to the state.[44][45]

In January 2007, when Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong asked to be recused from dealing with the Duke lacrosse case, Cooper’s office assumed responsibility for the case. On April 11, 2007, after revelations of Nifong’s withholding of evidence, fabrications, and other ethics violations, Cooper dismissed the case against the Duke lacrosse team players, taking the extraordinary step of declaring them “innocent” and victims of a “tragic rush to accuse”.[46] The decision won him bipartisan praise.[10]

Cooper and former U.S. Representative Tim Valentine in August 2014

Days after the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, Cooper created the Campus Safety Task Force to analyze school shootings and make policy recommendations to help the government prevent and respond to them. The task force delivered its report in January 2008. After the release of its findings, Cooper assisted members of the North Carolina General Assembly in passing a law that required court clerks to record involuntary commitments in a national gun permit database.[47]

After a 2010 decision by a three-judge panel to exonerate Gregory Taylor, who had served nearly 17 years for the first-degree murder of Jaquetta Thomas, Cooper ordered an audit after it was learned that officials at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation forensic lab had withheld information.[48] This suppression of evidence had contributed to Taylor’s conviction for murder. The audit was released in 2010; it found that it had been common practice for two decades for a select group of agents at the State Bureau of Investigation to withhold information.[49] In addition, they did not keep up with scientific standards and the latest tests. The two investigators, Chris Swecker and Micheal Fox, cited almost 230 cases tainted by these actions. Three people convicted in such cases had been executed; 80 convicts were still in prison. A massive state effort was undertaken to follow up on their cases.

In 2011 Cooper argued his first case before the United States Supreme Court, J. D. B. v. North Carolina, a case related to Miranda rights in juvenile cases.[50][51] The Court ruled 5–4 against North Carolina.[52][53]

In 2014, after a major coal ash spill in the Dan River, then-Governor Pat McCrory accused Cooper of politicizing the incident after Cooper criticized Duke Energy, the company responsible for the spill.[54] McCrory later accused Cooper of “fighting against” efforts to clean up the spill, a claim WRAL-TV called “nonexistent”.[55]

Governor of North Carolina

Elections

2016

Cooper campaigning in October 2016

Cooper ran for governor of North Carolina in the 2016 election against incumbent Republican Pat McCrory.[3] In March 2016, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act—commonly known as “House Bill 2″—which McCrory signed into law.[56][57] Numerous corporations began boycotting the state in protest of the law, cancelling job investment and expansion plans.[57] Cooper denounced the law as unconstitutional and refused to defend it in court in his capacity as attorney general.[58]

As a result of the economic damage the law caused, McCrory’s approval rating fell dramatically in the months before the election.[57] When initial election results showed Cooper leading, McCrory claimed without evidence that the election had been manipulated by voter fraud. Recounts resulted in slightly higher margins of victory for Cooper,[59] and after an extended legal battle, McCrory conceded the election on December 5.[60] Out of 4.7 million total ballots, Cooper won by 10,227 votes.[61]

2020

On December 5, 2019, Cooper announced his candidacy for reelection.[62] He won the November 3 election, defeating Republican nominee Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest by 4.5 points.[63]

Transition

Dismayed by Cooper’s win, in late 2016 the General Assembly passed special legislation before he was inaugurated to reduce the power of the governor’s office.[64] In what The New York Times described as a “surprise special session”, Republican legislators moved to strip Cooper’s powers before he assumed the governorship.[65] Throughout December, Cooper oversaw an attempt to repeal the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. The repeal attempt failed after a deal between state Republican and Democratic lawmakers and Charlotte officials fell apart.

Tenure

Cooper being sworn in as governor of North Carolina

Cooper was sworn in as governor on January 1, 2017, in a small ceremony. His planned public inauguration was canceled due to a snowstorm.[66]

After taking office, as of January 6, 2017, Cooper requested federal approval for Medicaid coverage expansion in North Carolina.[67] Effective January 15, a federal judge halted Cooper’s request, an order that expired on January 29.[68][69] In his first months in office, Cooper focused on repealing the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. After long negotiations with Republican state legislators, Cooper agreed in late March to sign a law prohibiting North Carolina cities from passing local ordinances pertaining to public accommodations or employment practices for three years in exchange for the reversal of the facilities act.[70] On May 9, 2017, President Donald Trump appointed Cooper to a commission tasked with reducing opioid addiction.[71]

After the Supreme Court of the United States declared North Carolina’s legislative maps unconstitutional,[72] Cooper called for a special redistricting session on June 7, 2017,[73] but the House and Senate canceled the session, calling it unconstitutional.[74] On June 29, Cooper signed the STOP Act, an overhaul of the prescribing and dispensing regulations of opioids.[75]

Governor Cooper, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest and Senator Thom Tillis meet with President Donald Trump, September 2018

On July 1, Cooper signed into law a bill that allows alcohol sales after 10 AM on Sundays, nicknamed the “Brunch Bill”.[76] On July 11, he signed “Britny’s Law”, which makes homicide first-degree murder if the killing was committed with malice and the defendant has been convicted of domestic violence or stalking the victim. He also signed bills to allow domestic violence protective orders granted by a judge to fully go into effect even when they are under appeal and to expand the state’s “revenge porn” law from cases involving former lovers to those involving strangers.[77] On July 12, Cooper signed a bill that would add lessons on what to do when pulled over by law enforcement to the state’s driver’s education curriculum. The bill passed both chambers unanimously.[78]

On July 26, 2017, Cooper signed a bill to mount cameras on school buses in order to discourage drivers from illegally passing stopped buses.[79] On August 31, 2017, he declared a state of emergency due to plummeting gas supply,[80] which was rescinded on September 18.[81]

Fellow Appalachian governors elected Cooper co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission for 2019, making him the first North Carolina governor to co-chair the ARC since Jim Hunt in 1978.[82] In the 2018 elections, the Republican Party lost seats in the General Assembly, ending its supermajorities in both houses and rendering it unable to override gubernatorial vetoes.[83] On March 6, 2019, Cooper proposed a $25.2 billion budget for the year. It included salary increases for public school teachers and state workers, expansion of Medicaid, and a $3.9 billion bond (subject to a referendum) to help fund school construction and local infrastructure projects. Cooper said that he was confident he could get the legislature, without enough Republican members to override a veto, to implement some of his ideas.[84]

Governor Cooper giving a speech in Tyrrell County, March 2023

On February 11, 2020, Cooper announced the creation of a Novel Coronavirus Task Force for North Carolina ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.[85] On March 10, Cooper declared a state of emergency after the seventh reported case was identified in the state.[86] Four days later, he issued an executive order banning gatherings of over 100 people, and closed all K-12 schools for two weeks.[87] In June, he imposed a statewide face mask requirement for all areas open to the public.[88]

It was speculated that Cooper might run for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Republican Richard Burr in 2022, but he announced in March 2021 that he would not.[89]

On March 27, 2023, Cooper signed into law landmark legislation expanding Medicaid after the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the bill through both houses, despite almost a decade of GOP opposition. It is estimated that over 600,000 low-income North Carolinians will become eligible for the state’s Medicaid program.[90]

After President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential election and Vice President Kamala Harris announced her presidential campaign in July 2024, Cooper was named as a possible running mate for her.[91] He was reportedly seriously considered for the position and received vetting materials during the process,[92][93] but on July 29, he withdrew his name from consideration without giving a reason.[94]

Vetoes

Cooper completing his veto of NC Senate Bill 20 in May 2023

During his first two years in office, Cooper faced a Republican supermajority in the General Assembly capable of overriding his vetoes, thereby limiting his legislative influence.[95] His first veto as governor was of a bill that would make elections to the North Carolina Superior Court and to the District Court partisan, after being conducted on a nonpartisan basis for many years.[96] The House overrode the veto on March 22, 2017.[97] The Senate followed suit on March 23, resulting in the bill becoming law over Cooper’s objection.[98]

Cooper vetoed a bill on April 21, 2017, to reduce the size of the North Carolina Court of Appeals by three judges.[99] The veto was overridden on April 26.[100] He also vetoed a bill on April 21, 2017, that would create a new State Board of Elections (and new county boards of elections) split evenly between the Republicans and the Democrats. It would replace the longstanding system that gave the governor’s party a majority on the board.[99] Both houses of the legislature voted to override the veto on April 24 and 25.[101]

Cooper walking with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in 2023

Cooper also vetoed a bill that would limit individuals’ ability to sue hog farms.[102] The legislature also overrode this veto.[103][104] On June 27, Cooper vetoed the proposed state budget, which he had called “irresponsible” the day before.[105] In his veto message, he cited the budget’s income tax cuts and argued it “lacks structural integrity by failing to account for population growth, inflation and looming federal reductions, by using one-time revenue for recurring expenses, and by adopting a tax plan that will cause the state to fail to fund promised teacher salary increases in future years”. He said the proposed bill included “provisions that infringe upon the governor’s ability to faithfully execute the laws, including the administration of this Act, as required by the Constitution, and violating the separation of powers”. The legislature overrode his veto the next day.[106]

In July 2017, Cooper vetoed a bill to authorize nonprofit organizations to operate “game nights”, saying it would unintentionally create a new opportunity for the video poker industry.[107]

In December 2018, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill that would require new primary elections if a do-over election was called in the 9th district election.[108] Cooper vetoed the bill due to a provision that made campaign finance investigations less public, but the General Assembly overrode his veto.[109] In total, during his first two years in office, Cooper vetoed 28 bills, 23 of which were overridden by the legislature.[110] As a result of the 2018 legislative elections, the Republicans lost their supermajority in the General Assembly, thus giving Cooper and legislative Democrats more leverage in legislative negotiations.[95]

In May 2019, Cooper vetoed a bill that proposed punishments in the form of prison time and fines against physicians and nurses who do not resuscitate newborns that survive an abortion.[111] He said that the “bill is an unnecessary interference between doctors and their patients”[112] and that laws “already protect newborn babies”.[113]

Personal life

Roy Cooper and his family at a campaign rally, November 2016

Roy Cooper is married to Kristin Cooper (née Bernhardt), who worked as a guardian ad litem for foster children in Wake County.[114][115] They have three daughters, who all graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[116][117] They reside in the Executive Mansion. Cooper has taught Sunday school classes, serving as a deacon and elder at White Memorial Presbyterian Church,[118] and is an avid fan of the NHL‘s Carolina Hurricanes.[119]

Pronunciation of surname

In 2023, Cooper said that his last name should actually be pronounced /ˈkʊpər/, with the letters “oo” resembling the “oo” sound in “foot”, as opposed to the more conventional /ˈkpər/, which most people have called him for many years. He explained that the former is a local pronunciation of “Cooper” in Eastern North Carolina, where he grew up in Nash County, and his name was always said this way until he went to college. But he said that he is fine with people using the latter, more common pronunciation.[1]

Publications

Articles

  • “I’m the Governor of North Carolina. This Fringe Claim Before the Supreme Court Would Upend Democracy.” The New York Times, December 5, 2022.[120]

Electoral history

2000 North Carolina Attorney General election
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticRoy Cooper1,446,79351.21
RepublicanDan Boyce1,310,84546.40
ReformMargaret Palms67,5362.39
Total votes2,825,174 100.00
2004 North Carolina Attorney General election
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticRoy Cooper (inc.)1,872,09755.61
RepublicanJoe Knott1,494,12144.39
Total votes3,366,218 100.00
2008 North Carolina Attorney General election
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticRoy Cooper (inc.)2,538,17861.10
RepublicanBob Crumley1,615,76238.90
Total votes4,153,940 100.00
2012 North Carolina Attorney General election
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticRoy Cooper (inc.)2,828,941100.00
Total votes2,828,941 100.00
2016 North Carolina Democratic gubernatorial primary
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticRoy Cooper710,65868.70
DemocraticKen Spaulding323,77431.30
Total votes1,034,432 100.00
2016 North Carolina gubernatorial election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
DemocraticRoy Cooper 2,309,162 49.02 +5.79%
RepublicanPat McCrory2,298,88148.80−5.82%
LibertarianLon Cecil102,9782.19+0.06%
Margin of victory10,2810.22−7.92%
Turnout4,711,02168.98+1.68%
Democratic gain from Republican
2020 North Carolina Democratic gubernatorial primary[121]
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticRoy Cooper (inc.)1,128,82987.19
DemocraticErnest T. Reeves165,80412.81
Total votes1,294,633 100.00
2020 North Carolina gubernatorial election[122]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
DemocraticRoy Cooper (inc.) 2,834,790 51.52% +2.5%
RepublicanDan Forest2,586,60447.01%−1.8%
LibertarianSteven J. DiFiore60,4491.10%−1.09%
ConstitutionAl Pisano20,9340.38%
Total votes5,502,777 100.0%
Democratic hold

Notes

References

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Works cited

North Carolina House of Representatives
Preceded by

Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives
from the 72nd district

1987–1991
Succeeded by

North Carolina Senate
Preceded by

Member of the North Carolina Senate
from the 10th district

1991–2001
Succeeded by

Preceded by

Majority Leader of the North Carolina Senate
1997–2001
Succeeded by

Party political offices
Preceded by

Democratic nominee for Attorney General of North Carolina
2000, 2004, 2008, 2012
Succeeded by

Preceded by

Democratic nominee for Governor of North Carolina
2016, 2020
Preceded by

Chair of the Democratic Governors Association
2021–2022
Succeeded by

Legal offices
Preceded by

Attorney General of North Carolina
2001–2017
Succeeded by

Political offices
Preceded by

Governor of North Carolina
2017–present
Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by

as Vice President

Order of precedence of the United States
Within North Carolina
Succeeded by

Mayor of city
in which event is held
Succeeded by

Otherwise Mike Johnson

as Speaker of the House

Preceded by

as Governor of New York

Order of precedence of the United States
Outside North Carolina
Succeeded by

as Governor of Rhode Island