With abortion restrictions, looser gun rules and deeper tax reductions likely in the balance, North Carolina Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper are fighting in campaign trenches over whose policy agenda will win out in Cooper’s final two years in office.

Democrats and their allies led by Cooper are bidding to prevent Republicans next month from holding veto-proof majorities for the first time since late 2018. Cooper was often powerless then to block laws except through litigation.

As in other divided-government states following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion looms large in several key General Assembly races. With enough Democratic legislators behind the governor, Cooper’s vetoes foiled limited abortion changes approved by the GOP-controlled legislature in 2019 and 2021.

Republican leaders are prepared to consider additional abortion restrictions next year but say there’s no consensus yet on details. That uncertainty and the slight electoral adjustment Republicans need — three more House seats and two in the Senate to regain veto-proof majorities — feed into Democratic campaign narratives.

“In North Carolina, women still have reproductive freedom,” Cooper said at a recent event with Democratic female legislative candidates. “And as governor, I aim to keep it that way. But I cannot do it alone — I have to have a number in the legislature who would be willing to stand with me.”

Republican leaders, who have played down the abortion issue during fall campaigning, are optimistic about reaching those thresholds.

They say voters are focused on the national economy and 40-year inflation highs under Joe Biden’s presidency. GOP candidates are running ads blaming Washington for higher prices and talk about what Republicans in Raleigh have done to counter them, such as cutting income taxes.