Roy Asberry Cooper III (/ˈkʊpər/ KUUP-ər;[1][a] born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025.

Roy Asberry Cooper III was born in Nashville, North Carolina, on June 13, 1957, to Beverly Thorne (née Batchelor) (1929–2013), a teacher and Roy Asberry Cooper II (1927–2015), a lawyer and Democratic Party operative who was a close advisor to Jim Hunt; he later co-chaired Hunt's successful 1976 gubernatorial campaign.

[19] He challenged 12-term incumbent Allen Barbee in the Democratic primary and ran on a campaign of supporting agriculture and resolving a school merger dispute in Nash County.

[25] In January 1989, he joined Republicans and 20 other dissident Democrats to unseat Speaker Liston B. Ramsey in favor of Josephus Mavretic,[26] who appointed Cooper chair of the House Judiciary Committee, of which he had been a member during his first term.

[27] Cooper also voted with all House Republicans and 15 Democrats in favor of an unsuccessful attempt to amend the constitution to grant the governor veto power over legislation.

[14] Cooper's accomplishments in the legislature include implementing penalties for minors who bring guns to school, making public records more accessible, toughening the state's open meetings law, and giving the governor more veto power.

[32] In the November general election, he defeated Republican lawyer Dan Boyce and Reform Party candidate Margaret Palms.

[40] In 2001, Cooper initiated legislation that established new mentoring and tutoring programs for middle and high school students out on short-term suspension.

On April 11, 2007, after revelations of Nifong's withholding of evidence, fabrications, and other ethics violations, Cooper dismissed the case against the Duke lacrosse team players, taking the extraordinary step of declaring them "innocent" and victims of a "tragic rush to accuse".

After the release of its findings, Cooper assisted members of the North Carolina General Assembly in passing a law that required court clerks to record involuntary commitments in a national gun permit database.

[47] After a 2010 decision by a three-judge panel to exonerate Gregory Taylor, who had served nearly 17 years for the first-degree murder of Jaquetta Thomas, Cooper ordered an audit after it was learned that officials at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation forensic lab had withheld information.

The audit was released in 2010; it found that it had been common practice for two decades for a select group of agents at the State Bureau of Investigation to withhold information.

[3] In March 2016, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act—commonly known as "House Bill 2"—which McCrory signed into law.

Recounts resulted in slightly higher margins of victory for Cooper,[59] and after an extended legal battle, McCrory conceded the election on December 5.

[63] Dismayed by Cooper's win, in late 2016 the General Assembly passed special legislation before he was inaugurated to reduce the power of the governor's office.

[64] In what The New York Times described as a "surprise special session", Republican legislators moved to strip Cooper's powers before he assumed the governorship.

After long negotiations with Republican state legislators, Cooper agreed in late March to sign a law prohibiting North Carolina cities from passing local ordinances pertaining to public accommodations or employment practices for three years in exchange for the reversal of the facilities act.

[76] On July 11, he signed "Britny's Law", which makes homicide first-degree murder if the killing was committed with malice and the defendant has been convicted of domestic violence or stalking the victim.

[77] On July 12, Cooper signed a bill that would add lessons on what to do when pulled over by law enforcement to the state's driver's education curriculum.

[82] In the 2018 elections, the Republican Party lost seats in the General Assembly, ending its supermajorities in both houses and rendering it unable to override gubernatorial vetoes.

[89] On March 27, 2023, Cooper signed into law landmark legislation expanding Medicaid after the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the bill through both houses, despite almost a decade of GOP opposition.

[91] He was reportedly seriously considered for the position and received vetting materials during the process,[92][93] but on July 29, he withdrew his name from consideration without giving a reason.

During his first two years in office, Cooper faced a Republican supermajority in the General Assembly capable of overriding his vetoes, thereby limiting his legislative influence.

[106] In his veto message, he cited the budget's income tax cuts and argued it "lacks structural integrity by failing to account for population growth, inflation and looming federal reductions, by using one-time revenue for recurring expenses, and by adopting a tax plan that will cause the state to fail to fund promised teacher salary increases in future years".

[107] In July 2017, Cooper vetoed a bill to authorize nonprofit organizations to operate "game nights", saying it would unintentionally create a new opportunity for the video poker industry.

[96] In May 2019, Cooper vetoed a bill that proposed punishments in the form of prison time and fines against physicians and nurses who do not resuscitate newborns that survive an abortion.

[117][118] Cooper has taught Sunday school classes, serving as a deacon and elder at White Memorial Presbyterian Church,[119] and is an avid fan of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.

[125] Roy Cooper was the only candidate to file before the state's February 29 deadline, he ran unopposed in both the Democratic Primary and General Election.