NC Gov. Cooper is at the DNC. Now we know when he’ll speak to support Harris’ campaign

Gov. Roy Cooper will give one of the final speeches at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night, before Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage to accept the Democratic nomination for president, according to a source familiar with convention planning.

His premier speaking slot will bring national attention both to Cooper and to North Carolina, and shows voters the importance of the battleground state.

“North Carolina is one of those purple states that is always right there,” Cooper said Monday night in an interview with Politico, discussing pulling off a win for Democrats.

“I have a 2008 feeling about North Carolina, and we know what that means because that’s the last time North Carolina voted for a Democratic presidential candidate, in Barack Obama,” he said.

The exact order of speeches Thursday night remains uncertain. On Tuesday morning, organizers told reporters during a news conference that they were retooling the convention’s programming for the rest of the week after Monday’s event ran so long that President Joe Biden didn’t take the stage until 11:30 p.m. eastern time.

Monday night’s speeches focused on finding hope in Harris, thanking Biden for his service and highlighting the threat Democrats say President Donald Trump could pose if reelected.

North Carolina is considered a battleground state, even though Obama was the only Democrat to win the state since 1976. It has that distinction because the state’s presidential races have been decided by less than 4% since 2008.

Democrats have made a major push in North Carolina this campaign season by sending its candidates and their surrogates into the state on a near weekly basis to try and capture its 16 electoral votes.

Monday night, Cooper told Politico reporter Ryan Lizza that if Harris captures North Carolina, she wins the presidency.

DNC speakers

Dan Kanninen, the Harris-Walz campaign’s battleground states director, said they’re anticipating close races in those swing states.

“Our campaign was built to win a close race, and we will do that through hard work, reaching the battleground state voters who will decide this election,” Kanninen said in an email. “That includes elevating trusted voices in those states like many of our featured speakers this week.”

In addition to Cooper, Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff are among those who will give high-profile speeches during the four days at the Democratic National Convention. President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke Monday on the convention’s first night.

Harris and Cooper have a relationship that stretches back decades when they both served as their states attorneys general. So much so that Cooper was mentioned as a possible running mate for Harris, though he ultimately chose to withdraw his name as a contender. He’s thrown his full support behind her pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Cooper has been front and center of Harris’ campaign in North Carolina, greeting her and other dignitaries every time they’ve arrived at the airport and often introducing them at their events.

Cooper emphasized Monday night that Harris has visited the state 16 times since becoming vice president. She marked her eighth visit to the state this year on Thursday, when she made a policy speech on the economy in Raleigh.

Cooper’s term runs through the end of the year, and Harris could consider him for a cabinet position. Talk of such a role for him began when Biden was the presumed nominee. Biden said as much in a speech in Raleigh on June 28, just one day after he flubbed a debate against Trump that ultimately forced him to leave the race.

On Monday evening, Lizza asked Cooper whether he would consider a position in Harris’ administration if she were to win. Cooper said he plans to continue in public service but does not yet know what that looks like, and added that “everything is on the table.”

Everything but president in 2028, he said, though he hedged when pushed further on how serious he was about never wanting that position.

Trump and Republicans in NC

Trump has been less of a presence than Harris in North Carolina this campaign cycle, but appeared last week in Asheville to give a policy speech on the economy. He plans to return Wednesday, to Asheboro, this time to talk about national security. Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, will visit the state with Trump for the first time since becoming the Republicans’ nominee.

Kanninen criticized Trump for “returning from his campaigning vacation” with an extreme agenda and few staff on the ground to talk with voters.

The source familiar with convention planning said Harris currently has 1,600 staff in battlegrounds and more than 270 offices. This weekend alone, more than 1 million voters were contacted on Harris’ behalf.

“Through strategic, aggressive investments on the ground, on the airwaves, and across platforms, Team Harris-Walz is building on the unprecedented momentum behind Vice President Harris’ candidacy to pursue every available path to 270 electoral votes and send Donald Trump back to Mar-a-Lago,” Kanninen said.

As he spoke to Lizza Monday, Cooper couldn’t stop smiling at the thought of Harris winning North Carolina.

“A lot of things are coming together to turn North Carolina blue,” Cooper said. “A lot of excitement — I haven’t felt this much excitement since that 2008 race.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2024 at 5:06 PM with the headline "NC Gov. Cooper is at the DNC. Now we know when he’ll speak to support Harris’ campaign."

Danielle Battaglia

McClatchy DC

Danielle Battaglia is the D.C. correspondent for The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, leading coverage of North Carolina’s congressional delegation and elections. She also covers the White House. Her career has spanned three North Carolina newsrooms where she has covered crime, courts and local, state and national politics. She has won two McClatchy President’s awards and numerous national and state awards for her work.