North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is being considered as a top contender for Kamala Harris’ vice president on the 2024 Democratic ticket.

Originally from Nash County, Cooper, 67, practiced law for 18 years and then served in the state legislature before serving four terms as attorney general between 2001 and 2017.

“Democrats are likely to see Roy Cooper as a good match for Kamala Harris for multiple reasons. First and foremost, Cooper helps bring North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes into play in a way other candidates do not,” John Locke Foundation senior political analyst Mitch Kokai told Fox News Digital. “He has won six statewide elections since 2000. That’s an impressive accomplishment for a Democrat in a state that has trended right during the same time period.”

By contrast, Kokai said, Democrats have only won a single U.S. Senate contest over the same period in North Carolina. 

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“Cooper has been the Democrats’ brightest star in North Carolina in recent years, and so-called ‘Cooper-Trump’ voters helped him win his races for governor at the same time the Republican nominee won in this state during the last two presidential races,” he explained. “Cooper offers a clear demographic contrast to Harris, and he also presents a calm, sober, constrained personality that might help counter some of the criticism Harris has faced about her interactions with interviewers and the public.”

Despite his 16 years as attorney general – winning four AG elections back-to-back – “few people are likely to remember any significant accomplishment that could be attributable directly to Cooper’s work,” Kokai said. 

In perhaps his biggest moment as attorney general, Cooper made headlines across the nation when he declared three Duke University lacrosse players innocent in 2007 after an exotic dancer they had hired for a party in 2006 accused them of rape.

“We believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges,” Cooper famously said at the time.

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Gov. Roy Cooper makes remarks to the crowd before President Biden during a visit to Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, on March 28, 2023, in Durham, North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

During his final years as attorney general, Cooper challenged HB 2, a law requiring people to use bathrooms corresponding with their sex at birth, that he called unconstitutional. When he became governor, he repealed the law.

“For over a year now, House Bill 2 has been a dark cloud over our great state. It has stained our reputation. It has discriminated against our people. And it has caused great economic harm to many of our communities,” he said at the time. “Today, we repealed House Bill 2. We begin to end discrimination. We begin to bring back jobs and sporting events. And we begin to repair our reputation. It is an important step, but it cannot be the only step.”

He also supported legislation allowing for same-sex marriage in the state, which has been legal since 2014, in his capacity as AG.

Cooper’s website touts a 30% decrease in crime during his tenure as AG. 

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Cooper’s website touts a 30% decrease in crime during his tenure as AG. (Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg)

“He cracked down on child predators, worked to increase penalties for drug dealers, and oversaw a sharp (30%) decrease in crime,” his site states. “Roy also prioritized consumer protection, and fought to keep utility rates low, putting predatory lenders out of business and cracking down on telemarketers.”

North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NC SBI) Crime Reporting data shows total statewide offenses decreased more than 24% between 2001, the year he was sworn into the AG’s office, and 2017, the year he became governor. 

However, the murder, aggravated assault, rape, and motor-vehicle theft rates per 100 people increased between 2013 and 2022, more recent SBI statistics show, most of which spiked during the 2020-2021 period. North Carolina saw one of its most drastic upticks in homicides between 2020 and 2021, as did many other states and cities. While overall crime has decreased recently, it is still higher than before 2020.

“I cannot say whether the crime rate is 30% lower now than when Roy Cooper became attorney general 24 years ago. If so, that’s much more likely due to factors affecting the nation as a whole than to anything special Cooper did while leading the North Carolina Department of Justice,” Kokai said.

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Cooper was effective in staying out of the spotlight during his time in the AG’s office, the senior political analyst said. (Grant Halverson)

Cooper was effective in staying out of the spotlight during his time in the AG’s office, the senior political analyst said. 

“His tenure was so unremarkable that Republicans didn’t bother to field a candidate against him during one of his re-election bids,” he said. “In that respect, his record, style, and accomplishments would be unlikely to overshadow Kamala Harris. Plus, he might help her swing 16 electoral votes that have gone to Republicans in every election since 2012. That might be exactly what the presumptive Democratic nominee is seeking in a running mate.”

Cooper also worked in his authority as AG to combat opioid addiction across the state and hold companies accountable for promoting drugs that lead to addiction.

In his capacity as governor, Cooper did initiate COVID-19 lockdowns, temporarily shuttering certain restaurants and businesses, and passed strict masking mandates. In April, an appeals court ruled that the governor overstepped when he allowed restaurants to reopen a few months after COVID-19 came to the United States while forcing standalone bars to remain closed. The court described Cooper’s orders as “illogical” in the decision, according to The Associated Press.

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In his capacity as governor, Cooper did initiate COVID-19 lockdowns, temporarily shuttering certain restaurants and businesses, and passed strict masking mandates. (Grant Baldwin/Bloomberg)

“He offered an annual update on crime statistics, and he occasionally promoted efforts to fight scams targeting seniors or other vulnerable groups. But it would surprise me if one in 100 people stopped on a North Carolina street could name anything special Cooper did as attorney general,” Kokai said. “To some extent, that’s good news for Cooper because his tenure did involve some clear problems. The Crime Lab at the State Bureau of Investigation faced a serious scandal that led to a number of prosecutions being thrown out.”

Kokai noted that North Carolina developed “a noticeable backlog of untested rape kits” under Cooper’s time as AG. His Democratic successor, Josh Stein, “made a big deal out of clearing the backlog, never emphasizing the degree to which the problem stemmed from operations during Cooper’s tenure,” the senior political analyst explained.

Republican North Carolina state Sen. Warren Daniel also weighed in on Cooper’s potential nomination as Harris’ VP, stating simply: “I would love to have Mark Robinson as acting Governor of North Carolina while Roy Cooper is out traveling the country in support of a losing presidential ticket.”

A Georgia man’s encounter with a mass gathering of alligators in the Okefenokee Swamp that was captured on video has prompted researchers to investigate why so many of them congregated in a relatively small stretch of canal.

Marty Welch and his wife were boating through the Georgia swamp at Stephen C. Foster State Park on their way to Billy’s Lake when they happened upon the gator cluster, he told Fox News Digital.

Cellphone video of their July 14 encounter was shared on Welch’s Facebook page two days later and has been viewed more than 930,000 times as of Monday.

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“Look at the gators. Man, there’s a lot of them,” Welch is heard saying in the video. “Look at ’em. There’s probably 50 or 60.”

“More than that,” his wife Tina Welch is heard telling him, adding that she thought there “had to be over 100.”

The swarm of gators is seen in the video crossing the canal in both directions. 

At times during the video, they were bunched so close together that they could be heard and seen crawling on top of each other in the water.

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“Look at all the gators,” Marty Welch is heard saying. “There’s gators everywhere.”

The video caught the attention of researchers at the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant.

Marty Welch’s video shows alligators on top of each other in the water. Right, an alligator is seen in a stock photo on a canal bank in the Okefenokee Swamp. (Marty Welch via Storyful; iStock)

“We went out to try and see it for ourselves and document the event but were a bit too late,” the university’s Coastal Ecology Lab wrote in a July 22 Facebook post. 

Student researcher Mark Hoog spoke about the “fairly rare event” in a Facebook video.

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“What we’ve noticed is it happens during periods of low water, so we think it might have something to do with resources,” Hoog said.

“It was really amazing to see something like that.”

He noted it could be a “feeding event” that is bringing the gators together “when there’s not a ton of resources.”

Although researchers “didn’t see the actual congregation, we did see the aftermath,” the Facebook post said.

Researchers counted 151 gators within about a mile-and-a-half of each other, Hoog said.

Marty Welch, left, navigated an alligator-infested canal at Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee Swamp. (Marty Welch; Marty Welch via Storyful)

“That’s a lot of alligators,” he added.

The Okefenokee Swamp is considered one of Georgia’s seven natural wonders and the largest blackwater wetland in the South, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

“Perhaps the most famous inhabitant of the Okefenokee Swamp is the American alligator,” according to the website for Stephen C. Foster State Park. 

“Officials estimate that 12,000 of the country’s largest reptiles live within the refuge.”

But the swarm of gators that Welch stumbled upon didn’t deter him from navigating through the infested canal.

It’s estimated that Stephen C. Foster State Park in Georgia is home to 12,000 American alligators. (iStock)

“We were able to idle right on through and go out into Billy’s Lake,” he told Fox News Digital.

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Living in Georgia, Welch says he’s accustomed to seeing alligators in the water, but even he was impressed.

“It was really amazing to see something like that,” he said.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper is no longer in the running to be Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate this election season.

The governor confirmed the news in a statement on X. The New York Times broke the story on Monday evening, reporting that Cooper informed Harris’ team about his decision to withdraw. 

It was originally unclear what caused the decision, but Cooper said in a statement released on Monday evening that it “wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me.”

“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President,” Cooper’s statement read. “I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role.

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“This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” the North Carolina Democrat added. “As I’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins.”

Cooper was considered a top contender among Harris’ potential running mates in recent days. After President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and Harris began running her campaign, her team sent vetting materials to Cooper, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., were reportedly sent vetting materials as well.

John Locke Foundation senior political analyst Mitch Kokai told Fox News Digital earlier on Monday that the North Carolina governor was considered “a good match” for Harris.

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North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper reportedly withdrew from consideration to be VP Kamala Harris’ running mate. (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

“Democrats are likely to see Roy Cooper as a good match for Kamala Harris for multiple reasons. First and foremost, Cooper helps bring North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes into play in a way other candidates do not,” Kokai explained.

“He has won six statewide elections since 2000. That’s an impressive accomplishment for a Democrat in a state that has trended right during the same time period.”

The political analyst called Cooper “the Democrats’ brightest star in North Carolina in recent years.”

“Cooper offers a clear demographic contrast to Harris, and he also presents a calm, sober, constrained personality that might help counter some of the criticism Harris has faced about her interactions with interviewers and the public,” Kokai added.

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to Cooper’s office and the Harris campaign for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin and Michael Lee contributed to this report.