An incoming Oregon county commissioner has vowed to hold a Thanksgiving dinner for ‘as many family and friends’ as she can find as she refuses to obey the governor’s strict stay-at-home orders and the six-person limit on gatherings.

Tootie Smith, who is set to begin her position as chairwoman of the Clackamas Board of County Commissioners in January, has publicly said she will defy Gov Kate Brown’s orders.

‘My family will celebrate Thanksgiving with as many family and friends as I can find. Gov (Kate) Brown is WRONG to order otherwise,’ Smith wrote.

On Friday, Brown ordered a two-week statewide ‘freeze’ on businesses and gatherings – the harshest restrictions since the stay-at-home order imposed on Oregonians at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic back in March.

Smith, who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005 and as a Clackamas County commissioner from 2013 to 2017, refused to say how many people she plans to host at her home for Thanksgiving.

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