I first met Roy Cooper about two years ago. When we spoke I asked him to run for the Governorship of North Carolina in 2016 and promised him that if he did I would endorse him. Today I’m fulfilling that promise. He will have at least one primary opponent who he will crush. Baring something totally unexpected he will face incumbent Republican Governor Pat McCrory in November of 2016.

While Cooper is far from a lesser of two evils choice, the urgency that spurred me to add my voice to an already growing choir asking him to run was the miserable job Pat McCrory was doing as North Carolina’s Governor. McCrory’s performance hasn’t improved in the interim. It was abundantly clear that Cooper represented the Democrat’s best chance of retaking the Governor’s mansion in Raleigh. North Carolina is a purple state which leans red. President Obama barely won it in 2008 and lost it in 2012.   We currently have two Republican Senators (read: embarrassments) in the United States Senate. If North Carolina Democrats are to make up ground in 2016 they need strong Presidential and gubernatorial candidates at the top of their ticket in 2016. Hillary Clinton and Roy Cooper can provide that one-two punch.

Cooper attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a prestigious Morehead Scholarship for undergrad and later graduated from its law school. Roy went into private practice in his native Nash County also serving in the North Carolina House of Representatives and later North Carolina Senate. He ran for and won four consecutive terms as North Carolina’s Attorney General, a position he holds to this day.

Cooper has proven cerebral ability, legal and legislative experience along with being a verified statewide vote getter. He is both well liked and well respected in Democratic circles. In short, from a political junkie’s perspective, he is a dream candidate.

Like any other candidate he is not perfect. I broke with him when he recently suggested a “pause” in Syrian immigration. However, that is a far sight more reasonable than what we are hearing from Republicans.

Like most North Carolina Democrats he is not a pure progressive. Someone as far left as me could not win statewide and really doesn’t represent the majority of Tar Heels. However Cooper is on board on the vast majority of key issues.

His late mom Beverly was a schoolteacher which may in part account for the fact that Cooper is a staunch supporter of public education. Throughout his career in public service Cooper has continually supported teacher pay increases and lower class sizes. North Carolina has long had a public school and university system that has been considered the jewel of the south. Since 2010 when the Republicans took over the North Carolina General Assembly it has been under attack. Educated voters capable of critical thinking are the enemy of the modern day GOP.

A father of three, his pro-child positions are not restricted to public education. He has been an advocate for expanded children’s health care and has a reputation of being especially tough on child predators.

North Carolina desperately needs a Governor who cares about all North Carolinians, not just those who write big checks to his campaign or the campaigns of his political allies. Over the years Roy Cooper has demonstrated that he is such a leader and that he can win.

On October 14, 2015 Roy Cooper held up his end of the bargain by declaring his candidacy. Today I’m proud to do my small part by providing tellthetruthonthem.com’s endorsement to Roy Cooper for Governor of North Carolina!

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