Four Years of Questions: Oregon Roundup’s Reporting on the Kotek Administration

Oregon — Oregon voters are deciding right now whether to give Governor Tina Kotek another four years.

Since Kotek took office in January 2023, Oregon Roundup has investigated the conduct of her administration, the agencies she oversees and the politically influential organizations that do business with state government.

Much of that reporting has relied on public records requests, government contracts, campaign finance disclosures, court filings and correspondence that state officials might otherwise never have made public.

As Kotek’s first term draws to a close, we’re revisiting some of those investigations. They concern different agencies and controversies, but raise a recurring set of questions: are public funds being spent in a lawful manner? Who is making those decisions? Who is influencing those decisions? And, ultimately, is Oregon’s executive branch operating in the public interest?

Here are some of the stories Oregon Roundup has reported.

1. Kotek’s wife retained substantial influence in the governor’s office after a staff revolt and initial media uproar

In early 2024, three senior Kotek staffers abruptly departed amid concerns about the increasingly prominent role of the governor’s wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson, in administration policy and operations.

Kotek subsequently apologized for her handling of her wife’s role and abandoned plans for a formal office of the first spouse. After that, the media furor died down and Kotek Wilson disappeared from the headlines.

It wasn’t because she no longer wielded extraordinary power in her wife’s administration.

Records Oregon Roundup obtained more than two years later showed Kotek Wilson continuing to exercise substantial influence over behavioral health policy, supported by senior gubernatorial staff, office space and state police protection.

Emails from the first half of 2026 showed staff working to advance policy initiatives in alignment with the First Lady’s strategic direction, arranging meetings with interest groups and assisting with public appearances.

Read: First Aimee, Still — September 30, 2026

2. Oregon paid a behavioral health company millions without background checks or site inspections

In February, Oregon Roundup reported that the Oregon Health Authority had paid Uplifting Journey LLC at least $2.3 million without conducting criminal background checks on its owners or visiting its proposed treatment site before approving it as a Medicaid provider.

Our investigation identified business connections between one of the company’s owners and an individual charged in a major Arizona Medicaid fraud case.

Uplifting Journey also operated a Lake Oswego sober living house that housed two men subsequently accused by Washington prosecutors of kidnapping, torturing and attempting to murder a woman.

OHA defended its screening practices, explaining that federal regulations did not require background checks for the company’s provider classification. The agency had chosen a lower level of scrutiny.

An OHA contracts manager, meanwhile, had privately described a group of companies including Uplifting Journey as confusing and worthy of scrutiny.

The investigation raised questions about how Oregon verifies the qualifications of companies receiving public health dollars, particularly as the state expands spending on addiction and mental health treatment.

Read: OHA: No Uplifting Journey Background, Site Checks — February 3, 2026

3. La Mota continued operating despite millions in tax liens and Kotek’s promised reforms

In 2023, revelations about cannabis retailer La Mota’s unpaid taxes, political contributions and financial relationship with Secretary of State Shemia Fagan rocked Oregon politics.

La Mota’s owners and affiliated political committee had contributed $68,365 to Kotek’s 2022 campaign. Kotek subsequently donated $75,000 to Oregon Food Bank after the scandal became public.

Kotek also announced new tax-compliance requirements for cannabis licensees, promising that businesses failing to pay their taxes would not receive a competitive advantage.

Oregon Roundup’s October 2026 investigation found that the new rules permitted cannabis businesses with substantial unpaid tax liabilities to continue obtaining or renewing licenses if they met certain conditions, including compliance with approved payment plans.

Public records showed that the Department of Revenue certified La Mota co-founder Rosa Cazares as tax compliant in August 2026, even though two marijuana-tax warrants totaling approximately $302,000 remained outstanding at the time. The warrants were subsequently satisfied.

DOR declined to explain Cazares’ specific circumstances, citing taxpayer confidentiality.

The reporting raised a central question about the reforms adopted after the scandal: Were they accomplishing what the governor had promised?

Two days after our October report, federal prosecutors announced an indictment of Cazares on charges involving unpaid federal employment taxes. Those charges are allegations, not convictions, and concern federal tax obligations distinct from the state cannabis tax issues examined in our reporting.

Read: La Mota Plays On Under Kotek’s New Tax Rules — October 13, 2026

4. Oregon’s election officials turned to outside advocates during the noncitizen voter-registration controversy

In September 2024, Oregon disclosed that its automatic voter-registration system had improperly registered noncitizens to vote.

Oregon Roundup subsequently obtained records showing that senior staff from the governor’s office and state agencies convened an emergency meeting the day after the problem became public.

The meeting included a briefing from representatives of the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, an advocacy organization that supports automatic voter registration.

Further records revealed that a lobbyist for the organization provided suggested talking points to the governor’s staff, including language portraying the state’s discovery of the problem as proactive.

That characterization was significant because an outside organization had reportedly alerted Oregon officials to the registration errors before the public announcement.

Relatedly, Kotek’s office has not responded to numerous requests for comment from Oregon Roundup on any matter since the publication of our December 5, 2024, story.

Read:

• Kotek’s Office Sought Emergency Noncitizen Voter Briefing From Dark Money Group — December 5, 2024
• Lobbyist Briefed Kotek Staff on Noncitizen Voter Registration — May 23, 2025

5. An insurer that settled Oregon overcharging allegations contributed $50,000 to Kotek

In May 2026, Oregon Roundup reported that Centene, a national health insurance company, contributed $50,000 to Kotek’s reelection campaign.

The contribution came months after OHA approved a substantial expansion of the Oregon Medicaid business of Centene subsidiary Trillium Community Health Plan.

The expansion shifted approximately 96,000 Lane County Medicaid beneficiaries to Trillium after another insurer announced its departure from the market.

Four years earlier, Oregon had reached a $17 million settlement with Centene over allegations that the company overcharged the state for prescription drugs.

Oregon Roundup examined the contribution, the company’s prior settlement and the potential financial significance of the new Medicaid business.

The timing of a political contribution does not establish that it influenced an agency decision. But the reporting documented the intersection of campaign financing and government decisions involving substantial public expenditures.

Read: Kotek Gets $50K From Overcharging Insurance Giant — May 26, 2026

6. State funding continued after officials received allegations involving an addiction nonprofit

A June 2024 Oregon Roundup investigation examined allegations of sexual harassment and self-dealing involving leadership of the Mental Health and Addiction Certification Board of Oregon, a nonprofit receiving substantial state funding.

Records showed that a legislator overseeing behavioral health policy and a senior OHA official had learned of allegations concerning the organization’s leadership in 2022.

OHA nevertheless continued funding the organization through grants and contracts.

The accused organization’s representatives disputed important aspects of the allegations, and state officials explained their decisions not to intervene.

The investigation raised questions about how agencies evaluate complaints involving private organizations entrusted with taxpayer funds, particularly when those organizations perform functions central to state behavioral health programs.

Read: State Paid Addiction Nonprofit Despite Claims of Harassment, Self-Dealing — June 6, 2024

7. Kotek’s OLCC leadership changes raised questions about consistent enforcement

One of Kotek’s first major controversies involved the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, where senior employees had used their positions to obtain rare bottles of whiskey.

Kotek demanded leadership changes and disciplinary action.

But Oregon Roundup reported that an OLCC commissioner whom Kotek subsequently elevated to chair had himself sought rare whiskey while serving on the commission.

A separate investigation examined allegations in a former OLCC official’s lawsuit that politically influential supporters of Kotek had sought the removal of agency director Steve Marks and that an internal investigation had been leaked to help justify his departure.

Those allegations were not established findings of wrongdoing. They nevertheless raised questions about the relationship between political influence, agency leadership and enforcement of ethics standards.

Read:

• Kotek Praised Former OLCC Chair Who Requested Case of Rare Whiskey — January 24, 2024
• Lawsuit: Kotek Ally Leaked Bourbon Report to Justify Director Firing — February 16, 2024

8. A public-sector union supported Kotek’s transportation tax proposal, then contributed $400,000 to her campaign

The fight over transportation funding dominated much of Oregon politics in 2025 and 2026.

Kotek supported substantial tax and fee increases to address ODOT’s budget problems, while the agency warned that hundreds of workers could face layoffs.

SEIU 503, which represents thousands of state employees, supported the funding proposal.

Oregon voters rejected the transportation taxes in May 2026 by an overwhelming margin. Yet the threatened layoffs did not materialize after lawmakers redirected existing transportation funds to agency operations.

Oregon Roundup subsequently reported that SEIU 503’s political action committee contributed $400,000 to Kotek’s reelection campaign.

The governor oversees the state’s negotiations with the union, including collective bargaining agreements affecting employee compensation.

The reporting documented the union’s role in the transportation debate, the administration’s warnings about layoffs, and the financial relationship between a major state employee organization and the governor.

Read: Kotek’s Gas Tax Ally Gives Her $400,000 for ‘26 — August 20, 2026

The questions that remain

These investigations concern different subjects, but they share an underlying theme.

Oregon’s executive branch exercises enormous authority over public spending, regulatory enforcement, state employment and the delivery of essential services. The decisions involved are often made through processes that are difficult for ordinary Oregonians to observe.

Public records requests can reveal those decisions, but obtaining records frequently requires months of waiting, repeated follow-up and close examination of documents that agencies do not voluntarily publicize.

Oregon Roundup’s work has sought to make those decisions visible.

Whatever voters decide Tuesday, those questions about government accountability will remain.

And Oregon Roundup will keep asking them.

Written By Jeff Eager

I used AI to help identify and summarize four years of original Oregon Roundup reporting for this article. Oregon Roundup does not use AI-drafted content in its original news reporting.

Find the article and more directly from Oregon Roundup https://oregonroundup.substack.com/p/national-dsa-standard-bearer-listed

Republished by Right Now Oregon with Permission from Oregon Roundup. Oregon Roundup Foundation created this article. ORF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation dedicated to covering Oregon political and government news.