NC’s next governor: Josh Stein adds to transition team, including another Republican
Welcome to the governor-elect edition of our Under the Dome politics newsletter. I’m Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief.
Stein has added more people to his transition team to lead committees on various areas of government. Like last week’s announcement, this news also includes a former Republican lawmaker, someone from the administration of outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and people from the Department of Justice.
Some names are familiar, as they already work in local or state government, or served in the Cooper administration. I’ve divided up the appointments by where they’ve worked and how they know Stein.
Current or former state government leaders
▪ Chuck McGrady, a Henderson County Republican and former member of the state House from 2011 to 2020. He serves on the state Board of Transportation as an at-large member. In the House, he was co-chair of the Education Appropriations Committee and Judiciary Committee after being appointed by then-Speaker Thom Tillis.
▪ Charlie Perusse, former state budget director for Cooper
▪ Libba Evans, former secretary at the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources
▪ Lee Lilley, director of Economic and Pandemic Recovery in the Cooper administration
DOJ colleagues working for Stein transition
From Stein’s current agency, the Department of Justice, where he is finishing his second term as attorney general:
▪ Laura Brewer, who is deputy chief of staff at DOJ
▪ Kindl Detar, who is the public protection section director at DOJ
Local government leaders working for Stein
▪ Shinica Thomas, chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners
▪ Jonathan Barfield, member of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners
▪ Janice Cole, former Hertford town manager
▪ Avery Crump, district attorney for Guilford County
▪ Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson
Cherokee chief
▪ Michell Hicks, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Transition team members from the private sector
▪ Sarah Bolton, The Raben Group managing principal
▪ Tracy Doaks, MCNC president and CEO
▪ Reg Henderson, Lowe’s vice president of government relations
▪ Frankie Jones, Lincoln Financial Group vice president and managing director
▪ Sam Metzler, Quality Oil executive vice president of retail operations
▪ Gerald Roach, Smith Anderson firm chair
▪ Sallie Shuping-Russell,former managing director at BlackRock
▪ Sepi Saidi, TranSystems board member
Stein joins Bluesky
The past week has seen a migration in the millions over to the Twitter-esque social media site Bluesky. Among those with accounts are Stein and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall as well as some state lawmakers. I’m over there, too, as well as several of my colleagues here at The N&O and in the Capitol Press Corps.
Stay informed about #ncpol
Listen to our Under the Dome podcast to stay up to date. Our new episode posting Monday will include politics reporter Avi Bajpai and K-12 education reporter Keung Hui. We discuss the incoming superintendent of public instruction, Mo Green, and what his administration may bring. Plus what to expect at the General Assembly this week as they return for a few days, include a veto override and possibly more Helene relief.
You can sign up to receive the Under the Dome newsletter at newsobserver.com/newsletters. Want your friends to get our email, too? Forward them this newsletter so they can sign up. You can also email me questions you may have about incoming Gov.-elect Josh Stein our outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper at dvaughan@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published November 17, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC’s next governor: Josh Stein adds to transition team, including another Republican."
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