In the era of Trump, Democrats don't have a lot of leverage to influence policy. Republicans have a near-historic majority in governors' mansions and state legislatures, and they control all of Washington.

But there are still some areas of the nation where the political left can maneuver virtually untouched. Oregon is one of them, and The Fix sat down with the state's Democratic governor, Kate Brown, to talk about how she approaches policy in the Trump era and why Oregon seems to have gone out of its way to make itself one of the most anti-Trump states in the union. You can see the interview in the video above.

As just one of six states controlled entirely by Democrats (compared to 25 controlled by Republicans), Oregon has launched a combative approach to legislating in a Trump presidency.

During the state's 2017 legislative session, Oregon passed a half-dozen laws that touch on nearly every political hot spot with the Trump administration: transgender equality, abortion rights, deportation protections, health care, racial profiling training and a new program mandating ethnic studies in public schools.



Oregon even passed laws to blockade the state from things the Trump administration hasn't done yet. It passed a law prohibiting the state from participating in a Muslim registry (something Trump didn't rule out during the campaign). And Oregon codified a woman's right to abortion (in case the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade).

And Brown signed an executive order that strengthened Oregon's status as a sanctuary state, which refuses to hand some immigrants in the country illegally over to federal deportation authorities. It's a defiant stance to take, and one that could come at the risk of money for law enforcement grants.

But Brown is sure that Washington is on the wrong path of all this policy making, and Oregon on the right one.

"We want people to know they are very much a part of Oregon's cultural fabric, and that we want them to remain a part of Oregon, she said.

The Fix sat down with Brown on Friday. Watch our interview, above.