By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Several more top lieutenants of outgoing North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper have agreed to work for fellow Democrat and successor Josh Stein’s administration, including two Cabinet secretaries and the state budget director, each of whom will stay in their current posts.
Continues roles for Public Safety Secretary Eddie Buffaloe, Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins and State Budget Director Kristin Walker were among six staffing decisions that the governor-elect announced on Tuesday. Combined with personnel decisions on Monday, Stein revealed choices for 13 top positions in less than 24 hours.
Stein already said Monday that two other Cooper department secretaries will be on his team as well — although current Administration Secretary Pam Cashwell and Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Reid Wilson each will preside over different agencies.
Stein, who is wrapping up eight years as attorney general, was elected governor last month and is expected to be sworn in as governor early in the new year, followed by a Jan. 11 public inauguration ceremony for him and others elected to the Council of State in downtown Raleigh.
Buffaloe, Hopkins and Walker all have had significant roles in the state’s response to Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding and destruction.
Hopkins, who was appointed secretary in 2023, has worked at the department for over 30 years. He has received public attention after Helene damaged thousands of miles of roads and bridges and as his agency works to fix them. Stein suggested Hopkins wouldn’t remain in the position for long.
“I am grateful to Secretary Hopkins for agreeing to stay in an interim role to help make sure we safely get people back on the road as quickly as possible,” Stein said in a news release.
Buffaloe was most recently the Elizabeth City police chief and has served in several other law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and the state’s National Guard. The public safety department includes the National Guard, juvenile justice services and emergency management.
“We need Eddie’s steady leadership as we work to rebuild after Hurricane Helene,” Stein said.
Walker, who became North Carolina’s first female budget director in 2022, has advocated for Cooper’s Helene spending requests to the General Assembly. She leads the Office of State Budget and Management, which helps generate the governor’s budget proposals and carries out spending laws enacted by the General Assembly.
Stein also said Tuesday that longtime Cooper lobbyist and aide Lee Lilley is his choice for commerce secretary, while Wilson’s current chief deputy — Staci Meyer — will become state human resources director. And Teena Piccione, who has worked at Google, RTI International and Fidelity Investments, is Stein’s pick for secretary of the Department of Information Technology.
Most of Stein’s Cabinet — neither budget director nor human resources director — are subject to Senate confirmation. It was not immediately clear, however, whether Hopkins and Buffaloe would go through the process. The Senate already confirmed Buffaloe in 2022 and Hopkins earlier this year as Cooper appointees.
Meyer has had a long career in state government, previously serving as a special deputy attorney general and on the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Lilley has been Cooper’s director of economic and pandemic recovery and his director of legislative affairs. The commerce secretary is considered one of the state’s chief economic recruiters.