Shamed Oregon governor axes plans for taxpayer funded role for her mentally ill, alcoholic wife [Video]

10:30 EDT 02 May 2024, updated 15:48 EDT 02 May 2024

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has announced she has decided not to create an Office of the First Spouse position for her mentally ill wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson.

After widespread public scrutiny, Wilson won’t hold the Office of the First Spouse, a planned formal office created just for her by the governor.

In a press conference held Wednesday, Kotek stated that her wife’s responsibilities will be restricted to ceremonial appearances and listening to groups of locals.

Kotek said she is awaiting direction from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to more clearly define what her wife’s role might be.

Her remarks follow more than five weeks of ambiguity and controversy around her wife’s expanding position, which Kotek admitted to poorly communicating to the public how involved Wilson would actually be in governmental affairs.