We owe our police officers a debt of gratitude.

They put their lives on the line to do a job that nobody appreciates, until they need them.

The top law enforcement officer in any state is the state Attorney General. In the case of North Carolina, that would be AG Roy Cooper, who is also running as the Democrat challenger to Governor Pat McCrory.

With that in mind, it would seem that out of the three major law enforcement associations in the state of North Carolina, there would be some support for their top LEO.

It would seem that way, but that’s not the case.

In fact, all three organizations, have, as of today, endorsed Governor Pat McCrory for reelection to the governorship.

Those three associations are the N.C. Troopers Association, the N.C. Fraternal Order of Police, and the largest, the Police Benevolent Association, all are standing with McCrory.

Could it be Cooper’s lackluster response to the crime lab scandal that unearthed in 2010?

At least 10 people sat on death row, in spite of evidence of mismanagement of evidence in N.C. crime labs. Three were eventually executed, while awaiting the state’s AG office to address their cases, but no investigations were forthcoming.

Cooper has been largely a figurehead, who only emerged when it was time to run for higher office (the governorship), so it’s no wonder that the state’s law enforcement officers do not trust him.

Does this sound like a shameless plug for Governor McCrory’s reelection bid?

It really is.

I’m a lifelong North Carolina resident. I remember most of the twenty years the state labored under Democrat governors. It wasn’t pretty.

The state lagged in education, business, and by the time the last Democrat was flushed out of the Governor’s mansion in Raleigh (Bev Purdue), the state was left $2.6 billion in debt to the federal government, with absolutely nothing to show for it.

In a single term, Governor McCrory has canceled the debt and secured a surplus of over $400 million.

We’re up from somewhere around the bottom, in terms of education, to #19 in the nation.

The state has gained almost 300,000 new jobs in the last 3 years. Our unemployment rate is below the national average and our state credit rating is solid.

We have a governor who is fiscally sound and socially courageous. Do I want anybody messing with that?

Uh… NO!

With the scourge of Trump at the top of the party ticket, there is a very real fear of his epic level of suckage trickling down and damaging the chances of GOP candidates on the state level.

What’s more, from talking to some disenfranchised conservative voters, there’s this notion that the entire GOP needs to burn. I’ve chosen a more pragmatic stance.

Yes, I feel the GOP is dying of a self-inflicted wound, and if they embrace Trump, they deserve it. However, I won’t let my more visceral reactions to what is going on at the top of the ticket influence how I view individual candidates who are doing their job well.

Governor Pat McCrory is one of those politicians who does not deserve to be punished because of a party association with the Cheeto-devil at the top of the ticket. He needs to stay in Raleigh for as long as he is doing his job.

The McCrory camp released a new ad today and it’s positive and focused, as opposed to the Soros-funded hit pieces from AG Cooper’s camp.

Just one more thing for North Carolinians to consider when they go to the polls in November.