Roy Cooper

Why they say you should vote for them

The candidate's own case to voters, summarized from their campaign and public statements.

• Says he is running to "make stuff cost less," with plans aimed at grocery, health care, energy, child care and housing costs.[1],[6]
• Says he has "a track record of being able to put party aside to lower costs and get results for everyday people."[5]
• Points to his record as governor, including a bipartisan agreement to expand Medicaid that his campaign says covered more than 650,000 people by early 2025.[2]
• Says the middle class "feels like a distant dream" while the biggest corporations and richest Americans have gained wealth "at your expense."[7]
• Says he would vote to ban members of Congress, the president and other top federal officials from trading individual stocks.[8]

Background

• Governor of North Carolina, State of North Carolina · 2017–2025[2],[9]
• Attorney General of North Carolina, North Carolina Department of Justice · 2001–2017[2],[9]
• State senator (Majority Leader 1997–2001), North Carolina Senate · 1991–2001[9]
• State representative, North Carolina House of Representatives · 1987–1991[9]
• Attorney in private practice, Law practice in Nash County and Rocky Mount · From 1982[2],[9]
• Teaching position after leaving the governor's office, Harvard University · 2025[10]

Education

• B.A. in Political Science (1979), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill[2],[9]
• J.D. (1982), University of North Carolina School of Law[2],[9]

Where they stand

• Economy & Jobs
  Says he would vote to roll back the Trump administration's tariffs, which he says raise costs for farmers and consumers. Proposes blocking grocery-chain mergers, banning algorithms that set grocery prices for individual customers, and barring food companies from using software to coordinate prices.[3],[5]
• Taxes
  Opposed the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, saying its health care cuts were made "to give tax breaks to billionaires." Proposes expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and offering employer tax credits for child care.[7],[6],[11]
• Health Care
  Supports reinstating the expired Affordable Care Act tax credits and reversing Medicaid cuts. Proposes broader Medicare drug-price negotiation, an annual cap on out-of-pocket prescription costs, limits on surprise billing, and tighter rules for pharmacy benefit managers and insurer claim denials.[4]
• Energy & Environment
  Says data centers should pay the full cost of the power they use rather than passing it to consumers. Proposes modernizing the electric grid, encouraging large tech companies to build their own power sources, and barring utility shutoffs during periods of severe heat and cold.[12]
• Housing
  Proposes restricting large corporations, investment funds and foreign companies from buying single-family homes, banning algorithm-driven rent-setting software, and offering incentives for multifamily and modular construction.[13]
• Immigration
  Says the federal government "should deport violent criminals." After the January 2026 Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, said any additional ICE and Border Patrol funding must come with "immediate reforms." As governor, vetoed a 2024 bill (H.B. 10) that required sheriffs to cooperate with ICE and expanded private-school scholarship funding.[14],[15]
• Public Safety
  Says he does not support cashless bail. His campaign cites his 16 years as attorney general prosecuting violent criminals and the pretrial-release laws he signed as governor.[16],[14]
• Abortion
  As governor, vetoed the 2023 bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy; the legislature overrode the veto. In 2019 he vetoed S.B. 359, the "Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act," saying it was "an unnecessary interference between doctors and their patients."[17],[18],[19],[9]

Voting record

Roy Cooper has not held an office with a recorded voting record. See Background and Where they stand.

In their words