RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Gov. Roy Cooper (D) still plans to take a key role in trying to help elect Vice President Kamala Harris, including traveling to campaign for her, even though he will not be her running mate.
Harris will travel to the Triangle region next Thursday with her to-be-named running mate as part of a swing through the seven battleground states.
The Harris and Trump campaigns are running new ads in North Carolina this week as they seek to frame the stakes of the election for voters and define Harris, who became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee last week.
In Harris’ ad, titled “Fearless,” she highlights her work as a prosecutor and state attorney general in California as well as the administration’s efforts to reduce the cost of insulin.
Trump highlights the surge in crossings at the U.S./Mexico border during President Joe Biden’s administration, calling Harris “failed” and “dangerously liberal” in his latest ad.
Before President Biden got out of the race, the campaign had opened more than 20 field offices in the state and hired nearly 150 people.
“Trump is scrambling because his toxic Project 2025 agenda to restrict our freedoms, kill our jobs and raise costs on our families doesn’t play well here in North Carolina. While he has barely any organization and shares a ballot with MAGA extremists like Mark Robinson, we have built a campaign to win close races. With our winning message, diverse coalition, robust infrastructure, and unmatched enthusiasm, North Carolina is positioned to deliver a victory for Kamala Harris in November,” said Dory MacMillan, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign.
Jason Simmons, chairman of the state Republican Party, said in a recent interview he remains confident Trump will win the state for a third time.
“We have the teams in place ready to go forward and actually win this election. We’ve seen repeatedly the Democrats have plotted their efforts here in North Carolina and it still hasn’t resulted in the wins they’ve been seeking,” said Simmons.
Gov. Cooper weighed in Thursday on Trump’s comments this week about Vice President Harris’s race.
During an event at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, Trump said, “She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black.”
Cooper said Trump was trying “to divide” people.
“It reminds me of exactly what he did with President Obama and birtherism. This is what MAGA is about,” the governor said.
He participated Thursday in a campaign event in Durham focused on abortion policy, which featured Kate Cox. She made national headlines when the Texas Supreme Court ruled against her as she sought an emergency abortion when doctors were concerned her life and future ability to have children were at risk.
Earlier this week, Cooper said he had removed himself from consideration to be Harris’s running mate.
He said he actually informed the campaign of that soon after President Biden exited the race, but he didn’t say that publicly until this week.
He gave a variety of reasons, including his concerns he had about what action Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for governor, may take when Cooper would leave the state to campaign. Under the state constitution, the lieutenant governor becomes the acting governor when the governor is absent from the state.
“So, that distraction from the campaign was a concern and something he could likely do frequently during the process,” Cooper said.
Robinson’s campaign declined this week to comment on that.
Cooper said Thursday he does still plan to campaign for Harris outside the state at times, just not as her running mate, adding that his concerns about Robinson will not deter him from that.
