Opinion

Opinion: Tone deaf Tina Kotek ignores Oregon voters' Tuesday message

On Tuesday, Oregon voters, including a majority of Democrats, rejected new transportation taxes by 83 to 17

By · May 21, 2026
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Opinion: Tone deaf Tina Kotek ignores Oregon voters' Tuesday message

You didn’t really expect Governor Tina Kotek to take responsibility for her failure to manage Oregon’s Department of Transportation, now did you?

Anyone with a room-temperature IQ knew Kotek would blame President Trump.

You think I’m kidding?

“President Trump’s reckless war with Iran has increased prices at the pump and made Measure 120 nearly impossible for voters to support.”

In other words, the governor insists that if only gas prices were a buck lower, Oregonians would have happily gone along with a multi-billion-dollar tax increase.

Look up “tone deaf” in your dictionary or on Google … you’ll see a picture of Tina Kotek right there.

On Tuesday, Oregon voters, including a majority of Democrats, rejected new transportation taxes by 83 to 17.

Now, the governor ignores that simple message.

Did Kotek fire anyone at ODOT for massive mismanagement of projects like the Abernathy Bridge, Rose Quarter, and Interstate Bridge?

Of course not. Did she promise to cut DEI and other nonsense from the budget and do basic highway management?

Perish the thought. Instead, she will just steam her taxing titanic ahead, full steam. It hits the electoral iceberg on Nov. 3.

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