Gov. Kate Brown Shakes Up Her Staff Prior to 2017 Legislative Session

Governor uses electoral mandate to strengthen her team.

Gov. Kate Brown
By Nigel Jaquiss

Fresh off her Nov. 8 election victory, Gov. Kate Brown today announced significant staff changes.

Leaving her office are her communications director, Kristen Grainger, and her top business advisor, Vince Porter.

Porter, a holdover from the Kitzhaber administration, is joining Strategies 360, a lobbying and communications firm that is a frequent landing spot for high-level state employees. Grainger, who's got a side career as a singer-songwriter, hasn't said yet where she'll go next. Chris Pair, who currently works for Grainger, will be acting communications director until Brown hires a permanent replacement.

Brown also added two new people: Abby Tibbs, currently working in government relations at OHSU, becomes deputy to Brown's chief of staff Kristen Leonard. Tibbs has been working on loan to the governor's office for the past two months and was heavily involved in preparing the budget Brown presented on Dec. 1.

Also joining the office is Debbie Koreski, a longtime senior legislative staffer who is currently an in-house lobbyist for Portland State University. Koreski will be Brown's adviser for Housing and Human Services.

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