Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, before a press conference in April. Earlier this week, Kotek called a meeting of the state's top elected officials in order to discuss possible threats posed to Oregon policies by President-elect Donald Trump.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
A month after an election that will give President-elect Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans broad influence over federal policy, Oregon’s top Democrats are starting to talk seriously about how to respond.
On Monday, Gov. Tina Kotek met with the rest of Oregon’s statewide officials – Attorney General-elect Dan Rayfield, Secretary of State-elect Tobias Read, Treasurer-elect Elizabeth Steiner, and Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson, all Democrats – to begin sketching out potential threats to what Kotek called “Oregon values” under a second Trump administration.
House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, and Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, also attended.
The meeting – held behind closed doors while the elected leaders attended a prominent business conference in Portland – was focused on getting Oregon officials on the same page, according to Kotek’s office.
“They discussed the distinct role of each of their respective offices in affirming Oregon values, ensuring a functioning democracy, and delivering results for Oregonians,” Kotek spokesperson Elisabeth Shepard said in an email. “In addition, they identified points of contact within each office for ongoing, deliberate coordination and information sharing as the incoming federal administration takes shape in the new year.”
The possibilities for a shakeup to Oregon policies under a second Trump administration are hard to overstate. While officials say it’s tough to predict what he will actually pursue, Trump has talked about kickstarting mass deportations and enacting tariffs that could pose challenges to the state’s economy; pulling back federal payments to help states transition to clean energy; ending vote by mail; and withholding money from cities and states that, like Oregon, have sanctuary laws preventing local officials from working with immigration enforcement agents.
Democrats around the country have responded in a variety of ways. One group of blue-state governors, like California’s Gavin Newsom, have vowed to forcefully push back on overreach by Trump. Oregon worked closely with California and Washington state in responding to changing federal policy during the first Trump administration.
Other Democrats have taken a softer approach in the days immediately after the election. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer – whose state Trump won – said after the election she would “figure out how to work with the Trump administration.”
In Oregon, where Vice President Kamala Harris won the presidential vote by nearly 15%, Kotek and other top officials have so far been restrained in their public comments. Kotek has said repeatedly that she will “defend Oregon values” like protecting access to abortion and safeguarding the environment. She has also said she wants to “work with the incoming administration,” when possible.
Mostly, though, top Democrats say they are waiting to see what Trump actually does before committing to any plan of action. Monday’s meeting was a first step toward preparing for whatever is coming, attendees and their staff said.
Rayfield, the incoming attorney general, will be central to any resistance Oregon offers to federal policies.
His office said Monday that he and the state’s Department of Justice “are uniquely positioned to proactively protect the values and rights of Oregonians by upholding the rule of law. This responsibility is even more important now.”
In the proposed budget she unveiled last week, Kotek suggested boosting funding to the Oregon Justice Department by $1 million a year to pay for possible challenges to the Trump administration.
“I knew that they might need additional resources because a lot of challenges will come our way based on current federal regulation,” Kotek told reporters last week. She could not say precisely what that money would pay for, but said the budget left an opening for Rayfield to argue for additional funding when lawmakers set a new two-year budget.
