Cooper’s announcement cranks up political season

Monday marked the turning of the political season in North Carolina, with Attorney General Roy Cooper’s official announcement that he is running against Gov. Pat McCrory.

From now until November 2016, the pace will pick up as the battle is waged among the campaign committees, state parties, national governors’ associations and various “dark money” mechanisms such as super PACs and allied non-profit organizations.

Here is some of the immediate fallout from Cooper’s announcement in Rocky Mount:

▪ Cooper has a campaign manager, Trey Nix, who was introduced to reporters at the Monday event. Last year Nix ran the successful re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia.

▪ The Democratic Governors Association sent a representative to Monday’s event, followed by a statement from Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, the current chairman, praising Cooper. The Republican Governors Association sent out its own release countering with a slam on Cooper.

▪ Former Rockingham mayor and state senator Gene McLaurin will join Cooper’s campaign finance committee, the Rockingham Daily Journal reported. McLaurin, who attended Cooper’s announcement, had considered challenging Sen. Tom McInnis, a Republican who knocked him out of office last year.

▪ Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the N.C. Republican Party, said Cooper’s official announcement makes him fair game to be treated like a candidate and be held accountable for his record in office.

Cooper’s declaration was met with a news conference and a Twitter, email and web campaign by the N.C. GOP to attack the attorney general and praise the governor. The Republican Party was on Cooper’s trail from Day One of his candidacy, saying he was attending a fundraiser at the Manteo home of Libba Evans, who was secretary of cultural resources under Gov. Mike Easley. The Carolina Journal, a publication of the conservative John Locke Foundation, raised conflict-of-interest questions about the property in stories eight years ago. (“House clouded by scandal,” the GOP tweeted Tuesday.)

▪ For his part, the governor had no public reaction to Cooper’s fanfare. Asked for comment on Tuesday after an event in Raleigh, McCrory declined. “I’m busy leading,” he said.

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Cooper’s announcement cranks up political season."