Could North Carolina's governor deliver the state for Democrats if he's picked as VP?

As Vice President Kamala Harris steps into her new role campaigning for president, the frenzy over who her potential running mate could be is underway. A possibility on her list is North Carolina's two-term Democratic governor, Roy Cooper.

Cooper has served in the highest seat while Republicans maintain a supermajority in the legislature, giving him unique experience and his governorship of the purple, southern battleground state could help provide a regional advantage to Harris where Trump has won the past two elections.

Harris still needs delegates nationally to formally nominate her before anything is official, although North Carolina Democratic delegates fully endorsed her on Sunday.

In an NBC poll from before the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and Biden's drop-out, Harris, 45%, was slightly behind Trump 47%. And in an early July poll from Bendixen & Amandi Inc., Harris outperformed Biden and was shown winning over Trump by 1 percentage point, USA TODAY reported.

While Cooper, 67, has not publicly declared interest in the vice-presidential role, he has endorsed Harris as the next pick and pledged his support to provide North Carolina for the White House.

Before Biden's historic announcement, Cooper provided unwavering support for the Biden-Harris ticket throughout calls for Biden to step down. He said on several different occasions, at Harris rallies and after a governor’s call with Biden, that he supported the campaign.

“Kamala Harris should be the next President," Cooper posted on X. "I’ve known @VP going back to our days as AGs, and she has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country thoughtfully and with integrity. I look forward to campaigning for her as we work to win NC up and down the ticket.”

On Monday, Cooper appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe show where he declined to comment on vice-presidential pick talk and instead shifted the focus on Harris getting her campaign started.

"I appreciate people talking about me, but I think the focus right now needs to be on her this week, and she needs to concentrate on making sure that she secures this nomination and gets the campaign ready to go," Cooper said on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Cooper could provide a strong geographic advantage for Harris in North Carolina, said Michael Bitzer, political scientist at North Carolina's Catawba College. Cooper has delivered Democratic wins in the Tar Heel State despite Republican strongholds in recent presidential elections and a supermajority in the state legislature.

He clinched the highest seat in the state against Dan Forest by about 4.5 percentage points in 2020 and in 2016 by less than 1 percentage point against Pat McCrory. He managed to secure those victories while the state voted Republican in both presidential elections.

His winning resume could help the Harris ticket in the purple southern state. Bitzer made a caveat though, recollecting on when John Kerry chose John Edwards, a North Carolina congressman, as his running mate, in 2004. That "didn't make that much of an impact," Bitzer said.

“This is a different North Carolina from 20 years ago, and certainly this dynamic of working on the margins of victory, you know you want as strong a candidate as you can possibly get, and Cooper would present that at least here in North Carolina," Bitzer said.

Cooper is a North Carolina native, growing up in Nash County. Chair of the Democratic Party there, Cassandra Conover, said they are extremely excited about his prospects.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say that Nash County is extremely interested in her pick,” she said, but added that Harris has lots of other good options too.

Meanwhile, Leslie Carey, chair of the Henderson County Democratic Party, said, Cooper is uniquely equipped for the spot due to this experience governing in a red-controlled state.

"I’ve heard other names tossed around and I just don’t think they have the track record that Roy Cooper has," Carey told the Asheville Citizen Times. "It’s different to win in a blue state than it is to win in a mostly red state, regardless of gerrymandering, he has carried North Carolina. I think that says a lot over other states that may have terrific governors but I think it says more when coming from North Carolina."

Jill Hopman, chair of the New Hanover County Democratic Party, echoed that sentiment, saying Cooper knows how to work with the opposing party.

"I think that he is a super charismatic, Bill Clinton-esque moderate" that could deliver the South, Hopman said. "Governor Cooper has worked with an almost entirely Republican legislature for the last eight years, and he's still done wonderful things for our state, working with the opposition and moving the ball forward five yards at a time."

During his time as governor, Cooper navigated the COVID pandemic, has helped North Carolina remain a top state for business and has fought hard for Medicaid expansion and further investment into public schools and childcare.

Nadine Gibson, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, said in a state with close races, mobilization is key, and Cooper could help with those efforts.

"A lot of winning elections is about not only persuading swing voters, but also about mobilizing voters," Gibson said. "There is an argument that there's a lot of untapped Democrats in North Carolina."

Gibson foresees more excitement from Tar Heel voters having a younger candidate, and a North Carolina native, would likely "motivate more people to vote than the Biden-Harris ticket."

Not only could Cooper help Harris, but he could also set the tone for high-stakes down-ballot races in the state. Most notably to Gibson is the contentious race between Republican candidate for governor Mark Robinson and Josh Stein, who is endorsed by Cooper.

Joel Burgess, a reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times, contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is potential VP pick for Kamala Harris