Tipsheet

Roy Cooper Is Out of Touch on the SAVE America Act

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  March 18, 2026 2:45 PM

Yesterday, the Senate advanced the SAVE America Act by a vote of 51-48. The bill is supported by President Trump, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that he expects to have this legislation on his desk so he can sign it into law. 

"It is five of the most common-sense proposals that any party has ever put forward," Leavitt told Fox News, "and the American people overwhelmingly support this bill."

A majority of voters, including Democrats, support the bill's provisions for voter identification and proof of citizenship, as well as the other common-sense provisions that would prohibit mail-in voting, ban transgender surgeries for minors, and block men from participating in women's sports. 

But former North Carolina Governor and current Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper does not agree with voters. He opposes the SAVE America Act and voter ID. This aligns with Cooper's troubling history of putting illegal immigrants and criminals ahead of the needs of American citizens.

"We don't erect more barriers to voting," Cooper said. "We don't make it harder for people to vote." Just prior to this, Cooper cast his ballot ... after showing his ID.

Cooper is also opposed to voter ID, calling such laws "sinister" and falsely claiming that they "take away the fundamental right to vote."

In 2018, Cooper vetoed Senate Bill 824, which would have required voter ID in the state. In his written veto, according to ABC11, Cooper wrote, "Requiring photo IDs for in-person voting is a solution in search of a problem," Cooper wrote. "Instead, the real election problem is votes harvested illegally through absentee ballots, which this proposal fails to fix."

The following year, Cooper also vetoed a bill that would have removed illegal immigrants from North Carolina's voter rolls. At the time, Cooper said, “This legislation creates a high risk of voter harassment and intimidation and could discourage citizens from voting."

What's most disturbing about Cooper's 2018 veto is that the legislation was passed by both the North Carolina General Assembly and the state Senate after a statewide referendum approved voter ID. In other words, a majority of North Carolinians supported voter ID, and Cooper overrode the will of the people.

He'd be doing it again on the SAVE America Act, too. According to a poll of North Carolina voters conducted by the Heritage Foundation, 90 percent of Republicans, 63 percent of Independents, and 53 percent of Democrats support requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, and 83 percent of Republicans, 59 percent of Independents, and 52 percent of Democrats support requiring states to remove non-citizens from voter registration rolls.

Additionally, a majority across all political demographics support the SAVE America Act, including 92 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of Independents, and 50 percent of Democrats.

The SAVE America Act is quickly becoming a defining issue for voters heading into the 2026 midterms, and it's setting up Democrats for major political vulnerability in two key races. In Georgia, Jon Ossoff is the most vulnerable senator up for reelection this year, and his opposition to voter ID and the SAVE America Act is at odds with voters in his state. 

In North Carolina, Roy Cooper is attempting to position himself as a moderate, but on this key issue, he's completely out of touch with voters' priorities.