Oregon secretary of state resigns over lucrative weed contract

Embattled Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is resigning over her acceptance of a $10,000-per-month contract with a cannabis company at a time when her office was auditing the state’s marijuana program.

Fagan’s resignation is effective May 8. Deputy Secretary of State Cheryl Myers will take over the post until a successor is appointed by Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek.

Fagan has come under fire after Willamette Week broke the news about her contract with Veriede Holdings, an affiliate of cannabis chain La Mota, last week.

The Democratic former state lawmaker was elected to the statewide post in 2020. The contract was more lucrative than her annual $77,000 salary. It also included additional bonuses of $30,000 for each license Fagan helped the affiliate of La Mota obtain outside the states of Oregon and New Mexico.

On Monday, Fagan announced that she was canceling her contract with the cannabis company. But she faced a looming ethics investigation and calls for her resignation from Republican lawmakers. Fagan is the state's chief election officer.

“While I am confident that the ethics investigation will show that I followed the state’s legal and ethical guidelines in trying to make ends meet for my family, it is clear that my actions have become a distraction from the important and critical work of the Secretary of State’s office,” Fagan said in a statement. “Protecting our state’s democracy and ensuring faith in our elected leaders — these are the reasons I ran for this office. They are also the reasons I will be submitting my resignation today.”

Oregon will have local elections in May.