Roy Cooper's stranglehold on N.C. politics
Little gets accomplished today without Cooper’s approval — and he’s fighting ruthlessly to keep it that way.
Four years ago, I published a ranking of the 50 most powerful people in North Carolina politics. Gov. Roy Cooper came in at No. 6.
Now, there were plenty of issues with that list, but Cooper’s position wasn’t one of them.
At the time, Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly had relegated the governor to near irrelevance. Twenty-eight times Cooper vetoed a measure passed by the General Assembly. Twenty-five times, that veto was overridden — giving House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger the power to shape the political landscape in North Carolina.
What a difference a few years can make. Today, Cooper is by far the most powerful political figure in the state — and it’s not even close. Through an iron-clad grip on the Democratic caucus, well-funded attorneys, and an expansive interpretation of executive power, Cooper has seized a stranglehold on North Carolina politics.