N&O: “The North Carolina Republican Party, led by Chairman Michael Whatley, accused former Gov. Roy Cooper of sponsoring ‘draconian’ crime bills…Since Cooper left office and began his run for U.S. Senate, Republicans have tried to rewrite the narrative on Cooper as soft on crime.”

New reporting from the News & Observer reveals that the NCGOP – led by Michael Whatley – criticized Roy Cooper for being too tough on crime just six years ago, sending out a press release blasting Cooper for sponsoring “draconian” legislation that pushed for stricter sentencing laws and abolishing parole for criminals serving life sentences. 

Now, Michael Whatley is misleading North Carolinians and changing his narrative for political gain. 

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N&O: NC Republicans rewrite their narrative about Roy Cooper’s record on crime

Danielle Battaglia | August 27, 2026

• There was a time in the recent past when the North Carolina Republican Party, led by Chairman Michael Whatley, accused former Gov. Roy Cooper of sponsoring “draconian” crime bills. 

• Republicans criticized Cooper for taking away the ability of people serving life sentences to seek parole.

• They chastised him for lowering the minimum amount of marijuana someone needed to have in their possession to be charged with a felony. 

• And they attacked Cooper for doubling minimum sentences. 

• “Governor Roy Cooper spent the 1990’s implementing draconian legislation that criminal justice advocates decry,” the GOP said. “This afternoon, the Republican State House and State Senate unanimously passed North Carolina’s Second Chance Act which undoes a number of laws that then state senator Cooper personally sponsored. During the 1990s, Cooper served in the State Senate as the Judiciary Committee Chairman and personally sponsored legislation to double mandatory minimums, increase the prison time for marijuana possession and eliminate parole board reviews.” 

• News clippings that time — 1991-2001 — show Cooper was known for his tough approach on crime. 

• In 1993, Cooper spoke to the Rocky Mount Telegram about structured sentencing, a plan passed that year to have judges use a grid to match the severity of a crime with a defendant’s past criminal history. Structured sentencing took effect in North Carolina in 1994. 

• He told the newspaper that he believed violent offenders were being released from prison too soon and structured sentencing would prevent that.

• “It will not let them out on parole,” Cooper told the newspaper in 1993. 

• He would speak out against early parole again to the newspaper in January 1994, saying he hopes “the prison cap is lifted, so more criminals can serve the time they should serve.” 

• “Life doesn’t mean life in prison as it stands now,” Cooper said to The (Greensboro) News & Record then. “The person who commits first-degree murder ought to be off the streets of this state.” 

• In September 1994, the Rocky Mount Telegram quoted Cooper calling for “tougher, and more certain punishment for criminals.” 

• Since Cooper left office and began his run for U.S. Senate, Republicans have tried to rewrite the narrative on Cooper as soft on crime. 

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