CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As support for Vice President Kamala Harris grows among Democrats in the aftermath of President Joe Biden's decision to leave the 2024 election, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s name has been tossed around on the shortlist for vice president.
But what happens if Harris picks Cooper as her running mate and Cooper needs to leave the state to campaign?
Cooper was pretty tight-lipped when asked if he would be open to being Harris’ running mate. But that hasn’t stopped social media from talking about the “what ifs."
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The North Carolina Constitution states:
"During the absence of the Governor from the State, or during the physical or mental incapacity of the Governor to perform the duties of his office, the Lieutenant Governor shall be Acting Governor."
So as Huffmon explained, if Cooper is out of the state for an extended period, like for campaigning, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson becomes acting governor.
However, Huffmon said if Robinson were to pass any executive orders that Cooper wouldn’t like, Cooper could just undo them when he got back.
"So the main effect of extended absences by Cooper would really just be to give Robinson a platform, you know, a way for him to make highly covered speeches," Huffmon said.
Robinson has stepped in to become acting governor before, but Huffmon said most people just don’t know it.
"Imagine the governor going overseas to try and get companies to bring their base of operations to North Carolina to grow the economy," he said. "That's quite a legitimate thing for the governor to do. But technically, again, according to the North Carolina constitution, that counts as an absence from the state."
Something else to note, some states have “resign-to-run laws,” which require officeholders to resign from their current office to run for another. North Carolina is not one of those states, so Cooper would be able to serve out his term.
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