With North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper reportedly on the short list to become Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election, WRAL News wondered how much a vice president candidate’s home state matters.

WRAL News looked back at the 11 presidential elections since 1980 to see whether the winning ticket carried the vice president’s home state.

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Of the 22 major-party teams, only five lost the vice-presidential candidate’s home state:

  • 1984: Democrats lost Geraldine Ferraro’s home state of New York when Ronald Regan won his second term in office in a race against Walter Mondale.
    • 1988: Democrats lost Lloyd Bentsen’s home state of Texas when George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis.
      • 1996: Republicans lost Jack Kemp’s home state of New York when Bill Clinton won his second term in office in a race against Bob Dole.
        • 2004: Democrats lost John Edwards’ home state of North Carolina after George W. Bush won his second term in office in a race against John Kerry.
          • 2012: Republicans lost Paul Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin after Barack Obama won his second term in office in a race against Mitt Romney.

            Examples where party won VP’s home state

            In 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won 20 states and Washington, D.C. One of the states she won was Virginia, the home of running mate Sen. Tim Kaine.

            In the 1980 election, President Jimmy Carter lost his reelection bid, but won the home state of his vice president, Minnesota native Walter Mondale.

            Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election in a landslide: He won 44 states and got 50.7% of the vote. Carter won six states and Washington, D.C., garnering 41% of the vote. However, Carter won his home state of Georgia and Mondale’s home state of Minnesota.

            2024 presidential election: Who will serve as Kamala Harris’ running mate?

            As the list of potential vice president candidates continues to narrow, we'll wait and see if the home state of Harris' running mate will be a significant factor.

            The Associated Press reports Cooper, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear are among the choices to be Harris’ running mate.

            The list of possibilities could expand or shift. But Harris, who has locked up the delegates she will need to be the Democratic nominee, hopes to make a selection in time for delegates to also vote on her running mate when they hold a virtual roll call vote in the first few days of August, ahead of the Democratic National Convention. The goal, according to one of the people with knowledge of the matter, is to keep the process drama-free, as Harris and Democrats try to project confidence after an extraordinarily tumultuous few weeks for the party.

            The Democratic National Convention runs from Aug. 19 – Aug. 22.

            The Associated Press contributed to this story.