Roy Cooper Withdraws From Kamala Harris VP Sweepstakes

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, who has been seen as a leading contender to become Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, has informed her team that he has withdrawn from the vice-presidential sweepstakes, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Mr. Cooper, who previously served as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, was believed to be among the half-dozen top candidates to join Ms. Harris on the Democratic ticket.

It was not immediately clear why he had taken himself out of consideration. A spokesman for the Harris campaign declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Mr. Cooper.

Mr. Cooper has known Ms. Harris dating to their overlapping days as state attorneys general and also campaigned recently with her. He has twice won governor’s races in North Carolina, a battleground state, even as Donald J. Trump carried the state at the presidential level. Mr. Cooper is prohibited from seeking a third term.

Mr. Cooper, 67, is older than Ms. Harris, 59, but still a decade younger than Mr. Trump.

Ms. Harris is seeking to select a running mate on a highly compressed timeline, aiming to make her choice by Aug. 7 — a little more than two weeks after she entered the race to replace President Biden on the Democratic ticket.

Besides Mr. Cooper, those known to be under serious consideration include Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg.

The remaining leading candidates are all white men. All except Mr. Buttigieg have a history of electoral success in politically divided states. Mr. Beshear was elected twice in deep-red Kentucky, Mr. Walz represented a conservative House district before being elected governor, Mr. Shapiro won his attorney general race in 2016 when Mr. Trump carried Pennsylvania and Mr. Kelly has won Arizona twice in the last four years.

Mr. Shapiro on Monday campaigned for Ms. Harris in the Philadelphia suburbs with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, who may have been a vice-presidential contender had she not taken herself out of the running last week.

“I want a future that is cleaner and greener,” Mr. Shapiro told about 1,000 supporters — an audience that would have been considered large for a Biden campaign stop just two weeks ago. “I want a future with better schools and safer streets, and I want a future full of freedom. I want to look the 47th president of the United States in the eye and say, ‘Madam President.’”

Two people with knowledge of the vice-presidential vetting process said the list had been narrowed to five, though the Harris campaign has vetted a dozen potential running mates. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private deliberations.

The only other vice-presidential contender known to have withdrawn from the process is Adm. William H. McRaven, the former commander of the United States Special Operations Command, who publicly took himself out of consideration last week. Before the vetting process began,

Ms. Harris’s vetting process began last week and is expected to run through this weekend. She has yet to meet in person with any of the potential running mates. The initial candidate interviews with members of her campaign staff have begun over video calls.

Several of those contenders have been campaigning publicly — and thus auditioning — for Ms. Harris in recent days. Mr. Buttigieg appeared on Fox News over the weekend and is set to appear on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart on Monday night. Mr. Walz has been a regular on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News — and even had a profile in the magazine Runner’s World. Mr. Beshear campaigned in Georgia.