RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper’s former senior advisor Ken Eudy has apparently been rehired as of April 1 according to government salary data.
Records show Eudy was re-hired as an “administrative officer” with a salary of $148,523; a $65,043 increase over his former final salary in 2021 and $73,523 more than he was paid as a “policy director” in 2017. No announcement was made by the governor or his office related to Eudy’s return.
Eudy was one of the first hires named by Cooper after being elected in 2016. Even before Cooper was sworn in, Eudy drew sharp criticism for penning a column in which he said he sits in protest when crowds cheer and stand to honor military service members.
By December 2021, a party was held at the Executive Mansion celebrating Eudy’s retirement.
The retirement followed a series of hearings on the Dominion Energy and Duke Energy Atlantic Coast Pipeline project (ACP) during which communications came to light involving Eudy and a $57.8 million dollar “mitigation fund” that would be controlled by the governor.
During the course of investigations and hearings, Eudy’s testimony was found to conflict with the independent investigator’s report, specifically a section documenting a call placed by Eudy to Duke’s lobbyist Kathy Hawkins on Feb. 8, 2018. During that call, he requested Duke prepare a letter stating the $57.8 million fund was “voluntarily” provided on behalf of the ACP. Hawkins told investigators she had told Eudy that they “were not doing that.”
Since Eudy’s reinstatement in April, Cooper’s public visibility has increased by holding a Mother’s Day weekend “veto rally” of the bill that reduced the number of weeks for elective abortions in the state and most recently by declaring a “state of emergency” over public education funding.
