May 2, 2018
Page 5
Historic Midterm
C ontinued from f ront
the time. Bailey later defended
Smith on social media.
“Wasn’t an issue when I ran
but people are attacking @Loret-
taSmithPPDX now. Double Stan-
dard? The race should be about
issues,” Bailey tweeted in Decem-
ber.
Smith said her top priorities if
elected would be to push for more
affordable housing, assisting the
poor, and continuing funding for a
summer job programs she started
for local youth to help kids of col-
or and other disadvantaged popu-
lations.
She also wants to give more
attention to the populous in outer
east Portland, a group that makes
up a higher proportion of low in-
come people and people of color
than the citywide average.
Andrea Valderrama, another
diverse candidate who is of Peru-
vian descent, joined the election
race in October. A former staffer
of former Commissioner Steve
Novick and current advisor to
Mayor Ted Wheeler, she is also
a member of the David Douglas
School Board. The school district
serves a 12 square mile perimeter
in southeast Portland east of I-205,
where Valderrama has worked on
resolutions to make local schools
more inclusive and welcoming for
immigrants, and expand students’
access to contraception.
Sharon Maxwell, a successful
construction business owner of
over 25 years, is one of the four
candidates of color running to take
Smith’s seat on the Multnomah
County Commission where term
limits prevent Smith from running
again.
The District 2 post represents
people from 34 neighborhoods in
north and northeast Portland, ex-
tending to the northernmost parts
of north Portland in St. Johns to as
far east as 185th Avenue.
Among the many issues Max-
well plans to tackle if elected are
the auditing of services like men-
tal health, public safety, and pub-
lic health to ensure that crisis pre-
vention is taking place.
Maxwell also cited economic
stability and affordable housing
for families as top priorities.
“My approach as commissioner
will be to make sure that we’re fo-
cusing on stabilizing and strength-
ening our families because we’ll
put the vestment up front that’s
focused on prevention. Wanting to
make sure that first of all our fam-
ilies are economically stable and
sustainable; that parents have the
ability to get into employment op-
portunities that will provide them
with the financial stability,” she
told the Portland Observer.
Maxwell previously ran for
city council in 2014 but lost to
incumbent Nick Fish. She holds
two bachelor’s degrees, a mas-
ter’s in business administration,
and started two non-profits in the
2000s –one was a transitional and
emergency housing shelter for the
homeless, and another connected
youth to environmentally friendly
jobs.
Maxwell is running against
Susheela Jayapal, an activist and
former Adidas America general
counsel; Maria Garcia, a small
business owner of a coffee shop in
southwest Portland and endorsed
by activist group Women’s March
on Portland; and Bruce Broussard,
a public access TV talk show host
and former restaurant manager
who has ran half a dozen times for
multiple posts in the past two de-
cades. All candidates for the seat
are people of color.
Diversity consultant D. Bora
Harris also appears on ballots this
year as a candidate for Multnomah
County Chair, looking to unseat
current chair Deborah Kafoury.
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Harris told the Portland Ob-
server that she’s running on a
campaign to thwart institutional
racism and improve county em-
ployees’ working conditions.
Citing public spats that have
occurred among the county chair
and commissioners in the past,
Harris advocates for setting aside
differences to get things done
and listening to what the people’s
needs are.
“The commissioners and chairs
appear to have personal issues
among themselves and when
you’re so focused on your per-
sonal issues and disagreements,
you’re losing sight of the needs
of the community, the elderly, the
children, the homeless, affordable
housing,” Harris said.
If she wins, she’d be the first
African American woman to serve
as county chair in 25 years since
Gladys McCoy first served in the
1980s.
The outstanding number of fe-
male people of color running for
local elections follows in a nation-
wide trend of underrepresented
groups putting their hats in the po-
litical ring this year.
A record breaking number of
women have registered as candi-
dates for the U.S. House of Rep-
resentatives in the midterms this
year, according to data from Rut-
C ontinued on P age 15
Sharon Maxwell, a successful construction business owner of over
25 years, is one of the four candidates of color running for a seat
on the Multnomah County Commission.
D. Bora Harris is a candidate for Multnomah County Chair. If
elected, she would be the first African American woman to serve
as county chair in 25 years since Gladys McCoy first served in the
1980s.