A popular Southern Democrat has decided he wants no part in the Harris presidential campaign, recently telling allies that he would not consider joining her ticket if asked.

The opposite sentiment has been par for the course among Democrats eager to fill her No. 2 place since President Joe Biden announced the end of his reelection bid last week. Now with Vice President Kamala Harris set to face down former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), the chattering class’s latest parlor guessing game is about who would most help the embattled veep out with climbing back to even in the polls. To that end, observers can count North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper out of the race, according to the Western Journal.

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Cooper, 67 has won plaudits at the local level for his ability to win votes in a red state lost by President Biden four years ago, and he has been winning elections since joining the state legislature at the age of 29 in 1986, WRAL reported. Earlier this month he told reporters that he fully stood behind Harris. “Kamala Harris should be the next president,” Cooper wrote on social media. “I’ve known [Harris] going back to our days as AGs, and she has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country thoughtfully and with integrity. I look forward to campaigning for her as we work to win NC up and down the ticket.”

That enthusiasm, however, doesn’t mean he wants to deal with the inescapable rough-and-tumble of national politics. “This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” Cooper posted to X Monday. “As I’ve said from the beginning, [Harris] has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins.”

pic.twitter.com/vBmxvUhuFu

— Roy Cooper (@RoyCooperNC) July 30, 2024

Others who remain rumored to be on the veep’s shortlist include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Strategists with Harris have previously outlined how her path to victory will likely be through the southern states, comprised of higher populations of minority voters, rather than Democrats’ more reliable “Blue Wall” of midwestern and Rust Belt states. Recent polling shows the Democrat trailing Trump more narrowly than Biden, but to break even she will in all likelihood need to dampen Black enthusiasm for Trump, which is at the highest level for a Republican presidential candidate since the Civil Rights era.

In a sign that the midwest is falling out of favor with the Harris camp, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed she is “not a part of the vetting” process, telling CBS News that she stands behind her party’s candidate but will be watching from the sidelines. “I have communicated with everyone, including the people of Michigan, that I’m going to stay as governor until the end of my term at the end of 2026,” Whitmer said.

WATCH:

VP Kamala Harris is going to announce her running mate “probably, in the next 6, 7 days,” campaign co-chair @GovWhitmer tells CBS Mornings.

She adds that she believes Harris’ running mate does not need to be a White man in order for her to win. https://t.co/qcj6TcLdJz pic.twitter.com/GV4GsZ5drf

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) July 29, 2024

The Democratic National Convention is set to take place in Chicago on August 19th, and the Harris campaign has said it intends to announce her running mate shortly.

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