A top Democratic recruit for U.S. Senate may have had a secret marriage, one that he has never publicly acknowledged existing, up until the time he entered politics, according to a new report from the Daily Mail.
Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who jumped into the open race last week, is alleged to have swooned his ex-wife while she was still married to her former husband, she claims in a new interview.
The revelation comes as a shock to longtime observers of the “squeaky clean” Democrat who left office in 2024 with high approval ratings and scuttlebutt about his potential future on the national stage, including reportedly being on the shortlist to join former Vice President Kamala Harris on the party’s ticket.
That image changed after a new story by the Daily Mail alleges that Cooper is no longer “the living, breathing antonym of controversy.”
Before entering politics, Cooper was married to his ex-wife, Georganne Rice, now 65, claims. His desire for elected office ultimately overshadowed their marriage and led to its demise, she told the outlet.
“He was my orientation counselor when I was a freshman and started at [University of North Carolina] Chapel Hill,” she said.
“We dated starting my sophomore year of college, and then we got married two weeks after I graduated from college in 1981.”
“I thought everything was great, until one day he came home and told me that he had signed up to run for state representative,” she continued.
“We had not discussed it or anything. We were in our mid-20s, and I wanted to start a family. I was completely flabbergasted that he would decide to run. He wouldn’t even discuss it with me; he just came home and told me.
“I told Roy, ‘I don’t want this life; we didn’t discuss this.’ It was a pretty major life decision.”
Hellbound and Down 