Harris ticket will not include North Carolina governor

(The Center Square) – Kamala Harris’ pick for her presidential ticket will not be North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

The 67-year-old second-term Democrat on Monday night released a statement saying he strongly supports the vice president in her quest to succeed President Joe Biden, who awkwardly removed himself from the race July 21. The timing, he said, isn’t right for him.

Cooper said, “I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for president. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket. As I’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins.”

Cooper was among many to be vetted for the position. He’s the first of the leading candidates to withdraw from consideration. The favorites remain , in no particular order, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

Cooper, longtime ally of the Biden administration, was immediately in the list of potential vice president choices and his name in the reports was of no surprise. Nor are the others reported to be vetted, a list led by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Cooper, Shapiro, Whitmer and Kelly represent four of the seven battleground states. Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada are the others, with 93 electoral college votes among the seven. Whitmer and Shapiro campaigned together in Pennsylvania for Harris on Monday.

Cooper is unbeaten in 13 elections – three for the North Carolina House of Representatives, four in the state Senate, four four-year terms for attorney general, and two four-year terms for governor. Finishing his second four-year term in December, state law prevents him running for a third consecutive and he has not announced plans.

If Harris’ choice is intended to help with electoral college votes, eyes go to Shapiro. Of the battleground states, Pennsylvania (19) has the most followed by North Carolina (16) and Georgia (16), Michigan (15), Arizona (11), Wisconsin (10) and Nevada (six).

Oddsmakers last week grew into making Kelly the consensus favorite with Shapiro next. Cooper and Beshear rounded the top four.