Attorney General talks about running for governor

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Attorney General Roy Cooper is talking about running for governor.

Cooper was in Wilmington Friday for the WPD swearing-in ceremony. He was elected as Attorney General in 2000. Now, he says he is planning on running for governor in 2016, although he hasn’t officially announced it, yet.

“Well I am deeply concerned about the direction North Carolina is taking,” Cooper said. “I am making plans to do that. It’s too early to make an official announcement. That will come sometime down the road.”

Some of the issues he wants to see fixed are education and film incentives.

“I’m deeply concerned about cuts to public education,” Cooper said. “Our teacher salaries need to be higher. I am worried about wage stagnation. We’ve got to invest in public education, our community colleges, and our universities. I am concerned about the film tax credits and the fact that they have been cut.”

Cooper says the government needs to take a look at where they are headed as a state and start prioritizing. He says it won’t be too long before he could make that announcement.

Friday evening, the North Carolina Republican Party issued a statement in response to this story.

“Unfortunately for North Carolina, our attorney general has a bad habit of picking and choosing which laws he wants to defend and abdicating his responsibilities as our chief law enforcement officer,” NCGOP spokesman Ricky Diaz said. “That’s not a leader.”