Roy Cooper

Roy Asberry Cooper III ( KUUP-ər; born June 13, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 75th governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 50th attorney general of North Carolina from 2001 to 2017 and served in the North Carolina General Assembly from 1987 to 2001. Born and raised in Eastern North Carolina, Cooper graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 1979. He began his career as a lawyer and in 1986 was elected to represent the 72nd district in the North Carolina House of Representatives. In 1991, he was appointed a member of the North Carolina Senate, a position he held until 2001. He was elected North Carolina Attorney General in 2000 and reelected in 2004, 2008, and 2012. His almost 16 year tenure as attorney general is the longest in the state's history. Cooper was first elected governor in 2016, narrowly defeating Republican incumbent Pat McCrory; he is the first challenger to defeat a sitting governor in the state's history. He was reelected in 2020. Although the Republican-dominated legislature passed bills in a special session to reduce the power of the governorship before he took office, Cooper was able to successfully negotiate statewide Medicaid expansion. Cooper is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in the 2026 election in North Carolina, facing Republican Michael Whatley in the general election.