Veepstakes twist as leading contender to be Kamala Harris' running mate spectacularly drops out ahead of shock move

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has dropped out of the Veepstakes to be Kamala Harris' running mate amid rumors he plans to run for Senate in 2026.

Cooper confirmed in a statement Monday night that he would not be a candidate to be Harris' vice president, saying he was 'honored' to be considered but 'this just wasn't the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket.' 

The governor, 67, withdrew from contention well before Harris' vetting process began and never submitted the requisite material, according to two of the people. 

Harris remains focused on mostly men with executive experience from swing states like Cooper to round out the ticket.

A Bloomberg report Monday revealed that Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro as well as Arizona Gov. Mark Kelly and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are the top three contenders Harris is considering adding to her ticket. 

The current vice president's team was initially said to looking at about a dozen potential contenders, but the field has narrowed and now Shapiro and Kelly are seen as among the front-runners, according to insiders. Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan told CBS News Monday that she could see a decision happening in the next week.

Cooper, the former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, has been close to Harris since they were both state attorneys general. 

His potential selection was seen as a possible asset in shifting North Carolina - the Democrats' only significant opportunity to expand on their 2020 map - into Harris' hands.

A source close to Cooper has said that the governor is specifically targeting the Senate seat in North Carolina up for election in 2026, NBC News reports.

Thom Tills, a Republican, has won two consecutive terms but both times by less than two points. 

Under the state constitution, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is the GOP's nominee to replace the term-limited Cooper, becomes acting governor and can assume the Democrat's powers when he travels out of state.

Cooper, according to two of the people, has expressed concern about what Robinson might do if he were to leave the state extensively for campaign travel. 

The governor's legal team, as well as some outside experts, do not believe Robinson would actually assume the powers that accompany being governor, such as issuing executive orders. 

But the governor was concerned enough, one of the people familiar with the matter said, that Robinson would try to take action that could prompt litigation and spur distractions in North Carolina, one of the most critical political states nationwide both for the presidency and in its gubernatorial race.

Robinson is an ardent social conservative, who once called abortion 'child sacrifice.' In various church pulpits, Robinson has asserted men as the rightful leaders in church and society. 

He once mused that leaders of the original birth control movement in the U.S. were 'witches, all of ´em.' 

Robinson has also discussed LGBTQ people with words like 'filth' and 'maggots.'

In the weeks before President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, Cooper appeared with Harris at campaign events in Greensboro and Fayetteville. He had deflected questions about the vetting process.

'I trust her to make the right decision,' he told reporters in North Carolina recently.

Harris' search is ongoing and her teams of lawyers and political aides are still reviewing information on a narrowing list of potential candidates.

An ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday found Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona has the highest favorables amongst the contenders.

The same poll has the vice president's favorability sitting at 43 percent – an eight point surge since last weekend, according to ABC News/Ipsos polling which showed Donald Trump under water.

Kelly, a former astronaut and husband of ex-Congressman and gun control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, is viewed positively by 22 percent of respondents and negatively by just 12 percent.

While a majority either still don't know Kelly or have no opinion of the border state Democrat, he remains better liked than some of his potential VP rivals. 

Kelly is seen as a potential worry for Republicans, according to Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist and former spokesperson to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. 

Republican strategist Matt Wolking believes Shapiro and Kelly are the most formidable candidates in the running for vice president, but he noted choosing Kelly would open up a Senate seat in the battleground state of Arizona should Democrats win the election.

Harris is likely to face-off with Trump in November as no other Democrats are being floated currently to challenge the vice president for the spot with just three weeks until the Democratic National Convention.

Fifty-two percent of those surveyed think Harris should be the nominee, according to the poll. And 86 percent of Democrats want to see her leading their ticket.

A separate poll also released on Sunday from YouGov/Times of London reveals that 30 percent of voters think Biden should step down now and turn over the rest of his term to Harris.

It also found a staggering number of U.S. voters – 92 percent – think Harris was at least partially involved in covering-up the extent of President Biden 's mental decline.

The survey of 1,170 voters taken July 22 and 23 asked whether they believed there was an effort to shield Biden's mental health from the public and who was responsible for the cover-up.

Fifty-four percent of respondents said there was a cover-up and 30 percent said they don't believe there was one. Sixteen percent aren't sure.

The switch-up in the 2024 election has left many with questions over whether there was a plot to keep Biden's cognitive health under wraps and who plotted to keep secret his declining health.