Is Roy Cooper a viable 2024 presidential hopeful?

Some potential candidates for the 2024 presidential election are obvious; others are obviously doomed. Somewhere in between, there are ones that make you stop and say “hmm.”

Governor Roy Cooper, the newly-elected president of the Democratic Governors Association, is someone who elicits the latter.

On Sunday, The New York Times reported that some donors want him to consider a bid. It might be strange for some North Carolinians to consider, but it’s not far-fetched, says Chris Cooper, director of the Public Policy Institute at Western Carolina University.

“Southern governors do well, and he has been able to thread this interesting needle where he is a Democratic governor, facing a Republican legislature with very, very few formal powers at his disposal, yet he’s been able to shape the state,” Cooper says.

“So I think it’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility.”

As a presidential hopeful, Cooper makes some sense. He’d be a “traditional” pick for the Democratic National Committee: in his mid-60s, white, and politically moderate in comparison to someone like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. He’s been in state politics for decades, unlike Pete Buttigieg or Mike Bloomberg. And despite going red for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, North Carolina selected Cooper both times, making him an anomaly among Democratic governors.

Cooper, from what we know, has an unblemished personal and political record. He’s more popular with Democrats, of course, but Republicans don’t have overwhelmingly negative opinions of him.

“He’s not a big speaker, he’s not a big personality,” Chris Cooper says. “But he’s had a long and successful political career.”

There are times he could have fought harder against NC Republicans, like making statewide COVID protocols enforceable through fines. Progressives would like him to dig his heels in a bit more on things like Medicaid expansion and teacher raises, but he would be a safe, moderate candidate, a la Joe Biden.

Historically, there’s a mix of precedent: more than one-third of U.S. presidents were state governors prior to their ascension to the highest office, and four of the last eight presidents were governors at one point. North Carolina isn’t a hotspot for presidential candidates, but John Edwards’s political trajectory pre-scandal shows that it’s not impossible.

The governor’s office has already responded to the rumors, saying he “supports President Biden and is focused on ensuring North Carolina emerges from the pandemic even stronger than before.” In the initial article, he asserted he plans to support Biden’s re-election bid, and wants to help his state turn blue in 2024. But both of these statements depend on Biden.

If Biden doesn’t seek re-election, Vice President Kamala Harris would be considered the early frontrunner, despite her own diminishing approval ratings. Other candidates could be those in the White House already, including Buttigieg or infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu. If not president, Chris Cooper sees the governor as a potential vice president to Kamala Harris, or a potential cabinet member.

The Times article floats other Democrats like Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire businessman, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs exec. Cooper is not a billionaire; he’s a country-lawyer-turned-politician, a born-and-raised North Carolinian with two degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill, a strong affinity for Andy Griffith, and a career in state politics dating back to his time in law school.

It’s hard to picture Cooper outside of North Carolina. Aside from his outward dedication to the state, he hasn’t achieved national household recognition like Harris or Warren. He isn’t an internet savant like Andrew Yang, nor is he an unyielding force like Amy Klobuchar. Politically, he doesn’t come with a supercharged base like Sanders. But Chris Cooper points out that in 2024, the Democrats don’t have a definitive figure waiting in the wing.

“There is a big question mark in the Democratic Party,” he says, “and Roy Cooper makes as much sense as anybody else.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 3:05 PM.