As Josh Stein settles into his new role as North Carolina’s next governor, he’ll have cabinet members who will serve the state by leading departments.
Here’s who they are and the departments they will lead:
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Gabriel J. Esparza will be the state’s first Latino cabinet member, the Stein transition team said, and will head the Department of Administration.
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Leslie Cooley Dismukes, the current criminal bureau chief at the North Carolina Department of Justice, will lead the Department of Adult Correction.
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D. Reid Wilson will lead the Department of Environmental Quality. He is currently the secretary for the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
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Devdutta Sangvai will lead the Department of Health and Human Services. He is currently a professor of family medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine and has also served as the president at Duke Regional Hospital. He will be the state’s first Indian American cabinet member, the transition team said.
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Pamela Cashwell will lead the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Her background lies in being the secretary at the North Carolina Department of Administration since 2021. She will be the first American Indian woman to be chosen as a cabinet pick.
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McKinley Wooten Jr. will lead the Department of Revenue under Stein. He currently works in the department and “knows the Department of Revenue inside and out,” Stein said in a press release.
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Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette is an Air Force veteran and attorney. She will lead the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
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Eddie M. Buffaloe Jr. will lead the Department of Public Safety. He’s worked in the department as secretary since 2021, had a long career as a law enforcement officer and served in the North Carolina National Guard.
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Joey Hopkins will head the Department of Transportation. Hopkins has served as secretary of the department since 2023. Stein said he is “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,” in a press release.
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Lee Lilley, who has been the director of economic and pandemic recovery and director of legislative affairs under Cooper, will now lead the Department of Commerce under Stein.
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Staci Meyer will head the Office of State Human Resources. Meyer is currently chief deputy secretary at the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
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Teena Piccione, who has experience at Google and RTI International as a managing director and in executive roles, will head the Department of Information Technology.
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Kristin Walker will continue to lead the Office of State Budget and Management. She has served in the role since 2022.
Prepping for NC’s inauguration: When does Josh Stein get sworn in as North Carolina’s next governor? Here’s what to know.
When does Josh Stein get sworn in?
Stein was officially sworn in on Jan. 1, but a public ceremony is taking place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11. During the public event, the newly elected governor will also deliver an address with the theme of standing behind Western North Carolinians and highlighting their strength in the midst of the storm: “North Carolina Strong.”
The event will take place on the side of the North Carolina capitol building, on the Salisbury Street side. The public can RSVP online at https://rsvp.zkipster.com/_9vle0. His address will also be streamed on several news outlets’ websites.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Meet Gov. Josh Stein’s cabinet members who will lead NC departments