Opinion: Will NC Governor Roy Cooper be able to swing North Carolina blue?
On the closing night of the Democratic Convention, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s speech added value to the Harris-Walz ticket. And to himself if he intends to run for the US Senate in 2026.
Cooper has some serious work to do now, though. Over the next 51 days, he must deliver North Carolina for the Democrats — for the president, governor, attorney general, and other statewide offices and all the way down the ticket. If he fails to work his heart out, he will be reminded that his first six-year, hand-picked Democratic state committee focused their funds and activities on him, not the rest of the party. Ballotpedia, the most reliable data information provider on elections in the country, noted that in 2022, 31% of the state legislative seats went uncontested, giving the Republicans a veto-proof legislature, while 43% of local seats were uncontested, eviscerating the Democratic bench and costing the party dearly.
Thank goodness for the brilliant Anderson Clayton, who, as a 25-year-old, challenged the token North Carolina Democratic Party leadership, won the chair and first three vice chair positions and led the team to rebuild the party.
Between now and Nov. 5, Cooper should raise more funds than he ever has and deliver it to the Harris-Walz campaign and Democratic candidates in the state. He should campaign from the coast to the mountains, from South Carolina to Virginia, from small groups to large audiences, from public venues and private, and do that several times a week. With a super-majority in the state legislature, what else does he have to do?
As popular a person as he is, without very visible efforts and demonstrable energy, he might find himself challenged for the party’s U.S. Senate candidacy and encourage the Republicans to invest even more to control the state for the future. Or fail to earn a position in the Harris administration despite their former friendship as attorney generals.
North Carolina has been a swing state for his two terms. He has yet to deliver important wins, except for himself and his attorney general. The Democrats have lost the North Carolina Supreme Court. The North Carolina delegation to the US Congress will shift from its current seven Democrats and seven Republicans to next year’s delegation of either eleven Republicans and three Democrats or ten Republicans and four Democrats, given one vaguely swing district. That “little” failure of Governor Cooper’s may well cost the Democrats the majority in the US Congress in this fall’s election.
Why does Cooper have to work extra hard for the next 51 days? His eight-year track record also includes the following failures: adding efforts beyond only a few urban areas into those Democrats in exurban and rural areas; deconflicting – the management of door knocking, telephone calls, registration efforts, and Get Out The Vote – is the process where the party doesn’t send multiple people to the same block in the same cities but provides the tools to the county parties to avoid duplicative efforts.
He failed to recruit candidates for every office, thus automatically losing some seats, while permitting Republicans to invest more in critical seats.
He emphasized his pleasing personality while ignoring critical opportunities to educate the public on the behavior of his opponents. Sometimes, a leader must at least appear tough to let the media and public know of his disagreement with the other party’s policies.
He failed to attract the benefits of Biden cabinet members exempt from the Hatch Act to make “private visits.” As the Citizen Times reported in November, 2020, “Robeson County, which used to be a Democratic bastion, turned a pale pink in the 2016 election when it voted for Trump. And in 2020, it became solidly red. While the first Indigenous American Secretary of the Interior in US history, a former Congresswoman, conducted her national business over the last four years, how difficult would it have been for the governor to convince her to visit some tribes to listen to their views and encourage them to register and vote? Together, these tribes have the state's lowest registration and get-out-the-vote records.
None of the above examples are new to any election professional. Roy Cooper has the opportunity to swing North Carolina blue. Will he even try?
More: NC Gov. Cooper shows support for President Biden after White House meeting
More: Opinion: Harris-Walz ticket will expand and protect civil rights for all Americans
Stephen Herbits is a retired EVP of a Fortune 150 company and a former senior official at the Department of Defense on multiple occasions. He resides in Leicester.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Will Roy Cooper be able to swing North Carolina blue?
