The Power Couple of Oregon Cannabis Bankrolled Top Democrats Even as Their Companies’ Taxes and Bills Went Unpaid

Willamette Week ^ | 03/29/2023 | Sophie Peel

[aimhigh]

On a crisp evening last May, Rosa Cazares threw a party. It was a fundraiser for Oregon gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek, hosted in an 7,048-square-foot home in Portland’s Northwest hills. Gathered around a glass and oak stairway that spiraled to the second floor, guests sipped from champagne flutes and sampled charcuterie. The gathering was thanks to La Mota, the second-largest cannabis dispensary chain in Oregon.

Cazares, 34, and her longtime partner Aaron Mitchell, 45, have a high profile in the cannabis industry. La Mota, the chain they founded, grows weed on Oregon farms, makes extracts and vapes, and sells products at 32 La Mota-branded dispensaries across the state. Between them, Cazares and Mitchell are listed in business filings as manager, registrant or member of 72 limited liability companies, or LLCs, many bearing the La Mota name. Each dispensary operates under its own LLC.

An industry expert estimates companies under the La Mota brand have sales of more than $40 million a year. Cazares regularly adorns the covers of weed magazines in an industry dominated by men. Her involvement in politics is equally noticeable: She serves as vice chair of Emerge Oregon, a training academy for women seeking elected office—and has told people she has an eye on high office herself. “She is really smart and thoughtful,” says former House Majority Leader Barbara Smith Warner (D-Portland), who attended Cazares’ parties. “She seems like a smart businessperson.”

(rest of the article reads like an organized crime movie script.)

[gov_bean_ counter]

‘she has an eye on high office herself.’

I’ll bet she does...

[thinden]

P

neighbors?

[ridesthemiles]

NO WONDER so many eastern Oregon counties want to join Idaho.

[little jeremiah]

GACK NO THANK GOODNESS!

[Twotone]

If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.