DETROIT (WXYZ) — The wife of Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, who last week endorsed Mike Bloomberg for president, has been working as a full-time employee on Bloomberg’s campaign for the last month, 7 Action News has learned.
Renata Evans, who gained notoriety in 2017 when she was hired by the Wayne County’s Treasurer’s office for a $70,000 a year job, is employed by the campaign as a field organizer.
The Bloomberg campaign, which has hired a staff of 95 in Michigan, said Evans was not hired because of her powerful husband.
“Any implication that we hired Renata for any reason other than her skill and expertise is completely fiction and an insult to the hard work and dedication she shows every day engaging with voters on behalf of our campaign,” said spokeswoman Charly Norton.
Earlier this month when Bloomberg campaigned in Detroit, he was introduced to a roaring crowd by Warren Evans.
“We have a candidate here who, according to polls, can beat Trump!” Evans told the crowd.
And after embracing the former New York City mayor on stage, Evans followed it up with a formal endorsement last week. On Saturday, Evans opened Bloomberg’s campaign office in Westland, where Renata Evans was at his side.
“I don’t think it’s inappropriate to ask the questions at all," said Dave Dulio, a professor of political science at Oakland University. "We have to keep an eye out of things that might call into question the veracity of decisions that are made."
Dulio added: “I have no doubt they were fully aware who her husband was."
Bloomberg's campaign has faced scrutiny over his years of philanthropic and campaign donations that preceded his run for office. Dozens of politicians who benefited from Bloomberg's generosity in years past have turned around and endorsed him, according to ABC News.
James Martinez, a spokesman for Evans, issued a statement Wednesday saying: “Warren Evans supports Mike Bloomberg because Mike is the only Democratic candidate who has expressly acknowledged the generational wealth gap for communities of color and has a bold plan to close that gap and lift up all Americans.”
Reached Tuesday night on her cell phone, Renata Evans hung up almost immediately.
A Bloomberg spokesman said he wasn’t sure what Evans was being paid and did not provide her exact hire date, despite repeated requests. In December, the Washington Post reported that Bloomberg organizers were earning $6,000/month—or $72,000 a year.
That’s about what Renata Evans made when she worked at the Wayne County Treasurer’s office in 2017. As we first reported, she was the only candidate considered despite having no government experience or a college degree.
Evans insisted her husband played no role in her getting that job. A week later, she resigned from her county position saying that she wanted to avoid even the “appearance of being unethical.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.