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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 2018)
Renovated Tubman Opens School bell rings for two new middle schools ‘City of Roses’ Celebrate Gospel Music See Metro, page 9 See Local News, page 3 September concert to feature five new honorees Volume XLVII • Number 34 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • August 29, 2018 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Photo by d anny P eterson /t he P ortland o bserver Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith campaigns for Portland City Council by sharing a fist bump with a potential voter at Thursday’s Beech Street Block Party in northeast Portland. Smith has put renewed focus on grassroots community outreach as she tries to bounce back from a more than 20 point gap against her opponent, Jo Ann Hardesty, in preparation for the November General Election. ‘I can win this’ by d anny P eterson t he P ortland o bserver Multnomah County Commissioner Lo- retta Smith has refocused her campaign for Portland City Council and predicts she will make up ground from a second place finish in the primary to repeat history and win the general election this fall. Smith’s strategy to close a 25-point defi- cit comes with an onslaught of face-to-face interactions with voters, stepped up can- vassing, attending events and continuing the community forums she has held all summer, called “Loretta Listens,” in neigh- borhoods all over the city. Looking at her own election history for inspiration, Smith recalls the November General Election of 2010, a year when she first ran for public office and overcame an 18 point disparity in the May primary to win her first term as county commissioner. This time, her opponent is former State Representative and former NAACP Pres- ident Jo Ann Hardesty who finished first last May with 46 percent of the vote, but short of the needed 50 percent plus one ma- jority to win outright. Smith came in with 21 percent of the vote. Now they face off in a Nov. 6 contest that will elect a black fe- male on the City Council for the first time ever. Current City Commissioner Dan Saltzman did not run for re-election. Smith, 53, told the Portland Observ- Smith refocuses her campaign for City Council er her campaign this summer has been in stark contrast to her efforts during the primary when she faced a heavy schedule before the county commission in the mid- dle of budget season and was busy carrying out the responsibilities of her office. She described how much more she is now engaging with voters and looks for- ward to the general election when as many C ontinued on P age 14
