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Roy Cooper, in farewell address, touts Medicaid, jobs & schools • NC Newsline
ROCKY MOUNT — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper delivered his farewell address Wednesday, touting Medicaid expansion, clean energy investments and public education as landmarks of what he called a statewide “comeback story” under his tenure.
“We have restored our reputation as a welcoming place, where people can thrive, innovate and grow,” Cooper told a crowd of around 200 at Nash Community College, a short drive from his hometown.
Cooper, who has served two terms after stints as attorney general and state senator, will leave office next month. Succeeding him will be Governor-elect Josh Stein, a fellow Democrat who is currently serving as attorney general.
The Nashville native recalled taking office in 2017 “beneath the rubble” of HB 2, North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” that was widely denounced and later repealed.
The state’s reputation was “in tatters,” Cooper said, and his top priority was a “pipe dream.”
Eight years later, that priority — expanding the state’s Medicaid program — has come to fruition. Cooper touted that win, along with several others: attracting clean energy businesses and jobs; wiping out medical debt; and investing further in education.
“Every inch of headway we’ve made demands our continued vigilance,” Cooper said. “Just as our comeback story was never a given, progress is never guaranteed. We have to work for it. We have to earn it.”
And with the eyes of the North Carolina political world already looking to a U.S. Senate race in 2026, Cooper left the door open to continuing his political career.
“We’re not done,” he said. “I’m not done.”
Cooper reflects on his legacy — and challenges
Cooper’s policy wins did not come without challenge or opposition, he acknowledged.
“These past eight years certainly tested us in other ways,” he said.
Looming largest among them were the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a series of devastating hurricanes — Matthew, Florence and now Helene.
And he faced a Republican-led legislature with which he was able to work with on several issues, but often led to combative disagreements on major policy. He has used the veto pen more than any governor in North Carolina history — and many of those vetoes have been overridden in response.
North Carolina GOP spokesperson Matt Mercer in a statement blasted Cooper’s leadership — criticizing his “failure in disaster recovery,” as well as his stances on education and crime.
“Roy Cooper’s place in North Carolina history is secure: he is the most inconsequential governor,” Mercer said.
Among the criticisms and frustrations in his speech Wednesday — of which there were few — Cooper reserved his strongest for the issue of school vouchers.
He touted expanded pre-K and raises for teachers, but warned against the program that has been a priority for GOP leaders.
“Right-wing extremists and for-profit schools have peddled a false narrative that our public schools are failing,” Cooper said. “Using that lie to justify their programs to rob public taxpayer money from public schools and send them to private schools for the wealthy, for vouchers.”
But he warned against allowing North Carolina and its government to be consumed by partisan divisions.
“We cannot allow the divisive tenor of today’s politics to rule the day,” Cooper said. “Not when we have so much promise to fulfill.”
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