As Gov. Tina Kotek faces a potentially tough reelection campaign, she’s losing three senior staffers.
In a statement, the governor thanked the departing staffers for standing up for Oregon values in the face of threats from the federal government. She called the moment, with the 2026 legislative session concluding last Friday, a time of transition.
Gov. Tina Kotek speaks to the press ahead of the legislative short session on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026 in Salem, Ore.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
“The work is not done, and the year ahead will be a busy one,” Kotek said in a statement announcing the latest round of staff departures.
The staffing changes include Taylor Smiley Wolfe, who has served as the deputy chief of staff for initiatives, and who will now serve as a policy director at the Ford Family Foundation. Smiley Wolfe first started working for Kotek while she was speaker of the House. She spent nearly seven years working for Kotek.
Bob Livingston, the governor’s legislative director, is retiring. Danny Moran, the current deputy director, will fill the opening. And Elisabeth Shepard, the governor’s communications director, is leaving to work in Washington, D.C. for U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, a Democrat who represents Oregon’s 5th Congressional District. Lucas Bezerra, the current deputy public affairs director, will fill Shepherd’s position.
There is no indication any of the staff departures have to do with an earlier round of high-profile resignations from 2024. That time, the governor fired her chief of staff and other senior executives resigned after they cited concerns about First Lady Aimee Kotek Wilson’s deep involvement in the office.
Emerald Bogue, the director of government affairs at the Port of Portland, will step in as a special advisor. She’ll be charged with office coordination, according to a press release, overseeing legislative affairs, communications and federal response.
Amelia Porterfield, currently the governor’s regional solutions director, who also worked for Kotek while she was speaker, will step in to oversee the governor’s policy efforts when it comes to homelessness and housing, mental health and addiction and education.
