Pat and Roy: Gubernatorial candidates square off in bitter debate

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper took turns firing salvos at one another on Tuesday night in a much anticipated debate.

Neither candidate for the governor's mansion, in our opinion, walked away with a clear-cut victory.

With no strong national coattails on which to grab, the debate was a chance for each candidate to rip into the other on issues from Cooper's support of the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to McCrory's continued support of controversial presidential candidate Donald Trump.

There is obviously little love lost between the two men, and it showed on Tuesday.

Both had plenty of ammunition with which to attack. McCrory took Cooper to task for his unwillingness to defend the state in its lawsuit over House Bill 2. Cooper took shots at McCrory for his support of the law.

Cooper criticized McCrory for backing Trump despite Trump's recently revealed lewd comments about women. McCrory attacked Cooper's support of Hillary Clinton, who is unpopular with many Tarheel voters.

North Carolinians have a clear choice in the governor's race this year, for the two candidates offer sharply different views of the future of the state.

Published in Editorials on October 12, 2016 9:53 AM