Roy Cooper's Moderate Campaign Image Masks a Record of Governing on the Left
Source: Joseph Backholm. "Roy Cooper Campaigns Like A Moderate, Governs Like A Socialist." September 4, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that Roy Cooper is running his Senate campaign as a folksy, moderate Southern Democrat, but his actual record as governor—vetoing certain protective legislation and releasing prisoners who went on to commit murder—shows he's really progressive. The piece warns voters not to be fooled by the campaign imagery, comparing Cooper to Biden, who also ran as a moderate in 2020 but governed further left once in office.
Conclusion
Roy Cooper is campaigning as a moderate but should be expected to govern as a left-wing progressive if elected to the Senate, because his actual record and party pressures reveal his true political orientation.
Premises
- As governor, Cooper vetoed legislation that would have protected children from sex-related medical interventions (puberty blockers/surgeries), indicating a left-leaning stance on that issue.
- Cooper's administration released thousands of inmates during COVID-era litigation, and 18 of them were later charged with murder, suggesting a soft-on-crime governing approach inconsistent with his moderate branding.
- Cooper's campaign imagery and messaging (church, football, farming parents, 'Make Stuff Cost Less' branding) is a deliberate strategy to present a folksy, moderate persona that may not reflect his actual governance.
- Joe Biden used a similar 'moderate' campaign strategy in 2020 but governed with progressive policies once in office (immigration policy changes, Title IX rewrites, EEOC bathroom/pronoun guidance), establishing a pattern for Democrats.
- Other current Democratic Senate candidates (Talarico, El-Sayed, Platner/Jackson) campaign with moderate or folksy personas while holding or associating with far-left positions, suggesting this is a broader party pattern.
- If elected, Cooper would face party loyalty pressures that would push him to vote with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, especially if his seat helps secure a Senate majority.
Assumptions
- A politician's past record in one office (governor) reliably predicts their behavior in a different office (senator) with different institutional pressures and constituencies.
- The Biden 2020-to-presidency pattern is generalizable to other Democrats, including Cooper, rather than being specific to Biden's circumstances.
- Campaign branding strategies (folksy imagery, moderate messaging) are inherently deceptive rather than reflecting genuine (if simplified) political identity.
- Party loyalty and pressure from the national Democratic party would override any genuine centrist inclinations Cooper might have.
- The examples of other Democratic candidates in different states are relevant to predicting Cooper's specific behavior.
- Vetoing specific legislation and prison releases are sufficient proxies for broader ideological classification as 'socialist' or hard-left.