 In January 2015 Brown submitted a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of the purchase of Time Warner Cable by Comcast that had been almost entirely ghostwritten by Comcast, a company that has made a total of over $10,000 in donations to her past election campaigns.On February 13, 2015, Governor John Kitzhaber announced his pending resignation amid a public corruption scandal; Brown succeeded him on February 18, since the Constitution of Oregon identifies the secretary of state as the successor when the governor leaves office prematurely.Brown named Brian Shipley, a lobbyist for Oregon Health & Science University and former deputy chief of staff to Governor Ted Kulongoski, as her chief of staff.