North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper in DNC speech: “Kamala will fight for you”

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was the final speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday night before Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her acceptance speech.

Cooper was once considered one of Harris's possible running mate, but he did not participate in the process because he felt it was not the “right time” for him to run nationally. However, he remains a strong supporter of Harris, whom he has known since they were both attorneys general.

Cooper spoke about his work with Harris during her time as California attorney general, saying she refused to accept a $4 billion settlement proposal with major banks over the foreclosure crisis.

“She took on some of the most powerful leaders in the world and refused to back down,” Cooper said Thursday. “I'm telling you, that was a big risk, but she knew it was a risk worth taking. That's Kamala, and we all know what happened. The banks backed down. The $4 billion for California families turned into $20 billion.”

This anecdote led Cooper to recite the refrain “Kamala will fight for you.”

“We have a lot of big fights ahead of us and a damn good fighter is ready to take them on,” Cooper said.

The governor will leave office at the end of the year and has been mentioned as a possible Cabinet candidate if Harris is elected.

Cooper's key speaking slot is another sign that the Harris campaign is turning its attention to North Carolina, which recent polls show is narrowing Republican Donald Trump's once-clear lead over President Joe Biden before Biden dropped out. Trump is now just 1.2 percentage points ahead in the state, according to RealClearPolling's latest average.

North Carolina is a state the party has not won since Barack Obama's victory in 2008. But Trump's campaign is taking the state seriously this year, and the former president has held two rallies there in the past two weeks alone, including an event in Asheboro on Wednesday.

At the start of the DNC meeting on Thursday evening, Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams gave a brief speech. He had been removed from the speaking schedule earlier in the week due to time constraints, but was on stage for a few minutes on Thursday.

Williams thanked the Biden administration's lending programs for helping him and his wife, Zweli Williams, obtain the financing needed to open the country's first Zimbabwean restaurant in Durham.

“The Biden-Harris administration helped make this a reality,” he said. “They helped make this dream a reality for entrepreneurs like us. Thanks to the small business grants and all the help we've received from them, we now have three locations and employ nearly 30 people at a living wage.”

Williams said Harris is fighting to “create an economy of opportunity that can break down barriers for entrepreneurs like us, and as president she will support risk-takers and problem-solvers who just want to do their part and claim their piece of the American dream.”

Other speakers from North Carolina on Thursday included Eric Fitts, a Wake County educator who met Biden earlier this year and drank cook-out milkshakes with the president, and NBA star Steph Curry, a Charlotte native.