NC governor's race sets pace for Democrats in the South

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Joe Biden may have one of his best chances for a Southern victory in North Carolina, where he stands to benefit from a mild-mannered Democratic governor praised for his balanced approach to controlling the coronavirus.

Four years after he narrowly won the politically divided state carried by then-candidate Donald Trump, Gov. Roy Cooper has a double-digit lead over his Republican challenger, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, in a July poll. Cooper's reelection path offers clues to what will work for Southern Democrats in an election cycle that also will determine control of the White House and Congress.

On the surface, the strategies used in the Cooper-Forest contest — one of the few closely watched 2020 gubernatorial races — appear to mirror those of Biden and President Trump.

While other Southern governors followed Trump's lead, shunning mask mandates, Cooper ordered that face coverings be worn in public — but he put the onus on businesses to enforce it and refrained from ticketing individual offenders.

He also took a balanced approach to shutdowns, closing bars and gyms while allowing all businesses in which customers could social distance to open at a reduced capacity. Unlike other Democratic governors, he placed few restrictions on construction and supported in-person school instruction.

Halbert Carmichael, 82, partly credits Cooper for the fact that his Raleigh retirement community, with about 150 residents, has only had a few positive cases. Nursing homes and residential care facilities account for half of the state’s coronavirus deaths.

“I feel like Governor Cooper’s done a fairly good job, and I have absolutely no faith in the Republicans,” Carmichael said.

Still, some want Cooper to go further in enforcing public health directives....