Roy Cooper’s trip to New Orleans last month for the Democratic Governors Association was notable for two reasons. He was elected chair of the organization, launching a new chapter for the governor and sparking whispers of a potential federal career. It was also the only known instance where he left the state in 2021.
Why? It could be COVID-19 safety — or the person who would be left in charge, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.
In May and October 2021, the governor of Idaho left the state for routine political trips. Both times, according to state law, the lieutenant governor was left in charge.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin are both Republicans. Both times, McGeachin took advantage of those few hours of power, signing an executive order banning mask mandates in May, and ordering the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border in October. Little reversed them as soon as he came home.
The same rule applies in North Carolina: per the state constitution, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor when the governor himself leaves the state. That means when Cooper (a Democrat) travels out of state, Robinson — a Republican known for his love of media attention — gets his hand at the wheel.
It begs the question: Is Roy Cooper a captive in his home state? Is he restricted by the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, in hopes of keeping a wild card out of the Executive Mansion, even if only for a few days?
Some Democrats are reading it that way.
“[Cooper] can’t take a family vacation to Iowa without handing over the reins to Mark Robinson,” one lawmaker anonymously told WRAL.
What does Cooper make of all this speculation? Mary Scott Winstead, Cooper’s deputy communications director, doesn’t make much of it at all.
“The Governor will continue to travel when necessary, as governors always have,” says Winstead, “and our office will take steps if needed to ensure continuity of government.”
Cooper’s infrequent trips are hardly noticed in normal times. In 2017, former Lt. Gov. Dan Forest became governor for a few days and didn’t realize it until Cooper was already back. “We never get told when he’s out of state,” Jamey Falkenbury, a spokesman for Forest’s office, told WRAL at the time.
Since 2020, the potential dangers have only become more pronounced with the presence of COVID: Forest was against mask mandates and kept holding giant campaign events in the midst of a new pandemic. Cooper and the General Assembly clash on almost every political talking point, pandemic or otherwise.
Now he has Mark Robinson, who is perpetually embarrassing the state with unhinged, bigoted comments and behavior. Cooper already made the decision not to run for Senate in 2022, partly so he doesn’t subject the state to Robinson’s antics, according to comments the governor made to Politico in March 2021.
Robinson’s office has not responded to the Editorial Board’s request for comment.
Cooper, however, will theoretically need to travel to other states to fulfill his formal duties as chair of the Democratic Governors Association. Given this perpetual travel notice, how much damage could Robinson do, really?
The most extreme example comes from 1970s California, when Democratic Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. left the state, only for Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Curb to appoint a new appellate court judge in his absence. Brown sued, it went to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the judges ruled that the second-in-command, legally, has all powers of a governor when they assume the role, even temporarily.
If there are no judicial appointments to be made, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor could try signing a bill into law with the assistance of the Republican-led General Assembly.
It’s like a 2000s teen comedy, when the parents leave for the weekend and put the oldest kid in charge. The outcome would likely be the same, too: the parent comes home to the chaos and immediately starts fixing it. But some things are easier to fix than others.
This issue could be mitigated some if North Carolina became a state that voted for its governor and lieutenant on the same ticket, if only to ensure that those elected get along publicly. For now, we can sympathize with Cooper’s possible reluctance. After all, would you want Mark Robinson in charge?
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