Governor Roy Cooper and President Joe Biden hold a briefing on Helene’s impacts at the State Emergency Operations Center following an aerial tour of areas damaged by Hurricane Helene. During the briefing, President Biden announced the approval of 100% FEMA Reimbursement for six months, a significant funding commitment from the federal government. (Pool photo/Paul Barker-Governor’s Office)
The state’s chief executive was considered as a running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris. A catastrophic storm left survivors wondering if FEMA had enough money. And, despite Donald Trump winning the state for the third consecutive time, Democrats walked away with electoral victories.
North Carolina made national headlines repeatedly in 2024, and no doubt, will continue to do so in the future. Here are three from the past year that stood out:
Democrats consider Gov. Roy Cooper as VP pick
When President Joe Biden dropped his bid for reelection and Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race, the next question became who would be her running mate.
Names in the conversation included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, and North Carolina’s own Gov. Roy Cooper.
Each potential candidate brought political pros and cons to the table. Some thought the selection of Cooper could help Harris claim victory in North Carolina and perhaps neighboring Georgia, the southeastern swing states with 16 electoral votes each.
But there was also a potential hiccup: a dated North Carolina law seemed to indicate that when the governor is absent from the state — something Cooper would have needed to be constantly had he secured the nomination — the lieutenant governor (archconservative GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson) would be in a position to act as governor.
Ultimately, this was among the factors that seemed to motivate Cooper to remove his name from consideration and choose to remain in North Carolina and rally supporters for the Harris-Walz ticket, as well as guide the state through the aftermath of a catastrophic natural disaster.
In the end, neither North Carolina nor Georgia supported the ticket of Harris and Gov. Walz.
Helene leads to questions about FEMA funding
Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina and portions of other states in late September.
In the aftermath, droves of support poured in from other states and the federal government. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell was scheduled to remain on the ground until the work was completed. President Joe Biden did an aerial tour of storm damage and visited Raleigh to meet with emergency operations.
But as it does in times of uncertainty, misinformation took hold in numerous places.
Survivors who had their homes and livelihoods ripped away from them wondered if the federal government had enough funding to help. Former President Donald Trump claimed that FEMA didn’t, because it was instead funding migrants — a claim that was quickly debunked.
Criswell clarified that the agency had enough funding to support recovery efforts from both Helene and Hurricane Milton in Florida, at least for the time being. However, FEMA would need additional supplemental funding from Congress.
That’s a topic that’s still ongoing. Congressional leaders took up a spending plan leading up to the holidays that could allocate nearly $9 billion to disaster relief in North Carolina.
Trump wins state, but Democrats have noeworthy victories
President-elect Donald Trump won the Tar Heel State for the third consecutive time in 2024, quashing the “it feels like Obama 2008″ atmosphere that gave Democrats hope through much of the fall in North Carolina.
But election night wasn’t a complete bust for Democrats.
Democrat Josh Stein handily defeated Robinson in the gubernatorial race.
Although Republicans turned the state auditor’s office red, Democrats flipped two positions in the council of state: lieutenant governor and superintendent of public instruction.
The party lost three U.S. House seats due to gerrymandering, but U.S. Rep. Don Davis held on in the first district, the state’s most competitive congressional race.
Notably, Democrats prevented a veto-proof supermajority in the North Carolina House. That’s crucial as the Republican-controlled state legislature frequently bashed heads with Cooper during his two terms in office.
Republicans in the lame duck session passed a 131-page bill marketed as hurricane relief that made a myriad of changes to state law, shifting power away from Stein and other Democrats. Despite protests from hundreds who called the bill a power grab, both chambers overrode Cooper’s veto.
The upcoming months will certainly feature more partisan conflict between the legislative and executive branches.