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On April 27, WW first broke the news that Secretary of State Shemia Fagan was moonlighting as a contractor for the owners of the embattled La Mota dispensary chain—a job she took while her office audited the state agency that regulates cannabis.
Since that revelation, Oregon Democrats who received political contributions from the chain and its founders, Aaron Mitchell and Rosa Cazares, have scrambled to scrub any association with the company. They’re doing that by pledging charitable donations equivalent to campaign contributions they received from La Mota and its founders.
The total pledged so far to various nonprofits and charities is $152,000.
Below is a list of the politicians who, since April 28, have pledged to donate campaign contributions they received from Mitchell, Cazares, La Mota or the political action committee run by Cazares to nonprofits or charities. And the ones who haven’t.
Gov. Tina Kotek
Total La Mota contributions: $68,365
Donation: $75,000 to the Oregon Food Bank
Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego)
Total La Mota contributions: $12,500
Donation: $12,500 to Habitat for Humanity
Senate Democratic Leadership Fund
Total La Mota contributions: $10,000
Donation: $10,000 to Oregon CASA Network
FuturePAC House Builders
Total La Mota contributions: $20,000
Donation: $20,000 to Lines for Life
State Treasurer Tobias Read
Total La Mota contributions: $1,800
Donation: $2,000 to Portland Community College Foundation
Rep. Andrea Valderrama (D-Portland)
Total La Mota contributions: $500
Donation: Undecided, but says she’s “leaning towards” the Black Futures Farm
Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson
Total La Mota contributions: $7,500
Donation: $7,500 to Northwest Workers’ Justice Project of the Cannabis Worker Resilience Partnership
Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson
Total La Mota contributions: $1,000
Donation: $1,000 to East Portland Neighbors
Rep. Dacia Grayber (D-Tigard)
Total La Mota contributions: $1,000
Donation: $1,000 to the Northwest Workers’ Justice Project
Rep. Hoa Nguyen (D-Portland)
Total La Mota contributions: $500
Donation: $500 to the David Douglas Education Foundation
Rep. Annessa Hartman (D-Gladstone)
Total La Mota contributions: $500
Donation: $500 to the Fathers Heart Ministry in Oregon City or the Gladstone Food Bank
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt
Total La Mota contributions: $2,000
Donation: Schmidt says he will give an equivalent amount—but hasn’t decided which charity.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer
Total La Mota contributions: $3,500
Donation: $3,500 to Classroom Law Project and OMSI
U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle
Total La Mota contributions: $26,000 (Hoyle returned $20,000 to Mitchell last year when Hoyle decided to run for Congress and dissolved the PAC set up to support her reelection as Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries commissioner.)
Donation: None; returned to La Mota
Secretary of State Shemia Fagan
Total La Mota contributions: $45,000
Donation: $16,000 left in her PAC will go to the Oregon Humane Society.
And here are the politicians who have not pledged to donate political contributions from Cazares, Mitchell, La Mota or Cazares’ PAC: Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty, Beaverton City Councilor Ashley Hartmeier-Prigg (she says she’s used all her campaign funds but won’t accept further contributions from La Mota), and the Democratic Party of Oregon.