Gov.-elect Roy Cooper talks with Channel 9 about HB2

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 was the only Charlotte television station to sit down with Gov.-elect Roy Cooper about the deadlock in Raleigh over House Bill 2.

Cooper told Channel 9’s Jason Stoogenke that he was "mad" and "frustrated" Wednesday when the North Carolina General Assembly failed to repeal HB2.

"I know what they told me,” Cooper said. “We sat down and looked at each other."

He said that he still is frustrated, but that he’s going to keep pushing for a full repeal.

Cooper wants to see the General Assembly put this to a vote when session starts again in January.

He said the votes are there and he's going to continue to lobby businesses and voters to put pressure on Republican leaders to vote on a full repeal without any conditions tacked on.

He told Stoogenke that Wednesday’s nine-hour special session was the "best chance" to settle this issue, but that it can't be the "last chance."

When the repeal fell apart, Senate Majority Leader, Republican Phil Berger, blamed Cooper for the stalemate.

"Roy Cooper called every one of you and said, "Don't vote for that,’" Berger said.

Cooper said he was disappointed they "did not keep their word."

"Honestly, emotionally, yesterday, how did you feel after nine hours?" Stoogenke asked.

"I was mad. I was mad and I knew that we had this vote. I knew we had the votes on the floor of the House and Senate and frustrated that the Republican leadership did not keep their word and allow this thing to come to a vote,” Cooper said.

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