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‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVII • Number 43
Clocks
move back
one hour
on Sunday
as Daylight
Savings Time
ends
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • October 31, 2018
Pleas for Peace
Portland vigil
follows attack on
Synagogue
See Local News, page 3
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photos by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith (left) and activist and former State Rep. Jo Ann Hardesty (right) compete for election to the Portland City Council. Voters in
Oregon have until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6. to vote by depositing ballots at an official county election office or drop box. Postmarks do not count.
Momentum to Vote
Smith, Hardesty contest propels local ballot
by D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
Just a week out from the Tuesday, Nov.
6 General Election and Oregon is poised to
see a larger than normal turnout, boosted
in part by a bigger interest in the Midterm
elections nationally but also in a local race
for a coveted Portland City Council seat
that will make history by ushering in Port-
land’s first black female councilwoman—
the contest between former NAACP Pres-
ident and State Rep. Jo Ann Hardesty and
current Multnomah County Commissioner
Loretta Smith.
It’s estimated that from 45 to 50 percent
of eligible voters nationally will cast a bal-
lot by Election Day, a turnout that would
exceed any non-presidential election year
going back 50 years, according to Michael
McDonald, a University of Florida profes-
sor who studies and maintains a turnout da-
tabase, electproject.org. A turnout that high
would be leaps and bounds larger than just
the last midterm election, in 2014, when a
record low 36 percent of voters cast a bal-
lot, the lowest since World War II.
Some voters in the community shared
their thoughts with the Portland Observer
about why more people may be voting this
year.
“I mean obviously Trump has a huge
impact on that. It’s kind of like revenge,
I think,” said Gus Brunder from northeast
Portland, who added that he votes in every
election.
Miles Craig, a Jo Ann Hardesty sup-
porter from northeast Portland, echoed
Brunder’s sentiment, saying opposition to
Trump’s presidency is influencing more
voters to cast their ballot.
“I think because of what’s happening in
the nation, it seems bigger than usual,” he
said.
According to McDonald, in a report on
Oregon Public Broadcasting, early voting
across the country has already reached re-
cord highs in comparison with other Mid-
terms. There’s also a record number of can-
didates, including more women, who filed
to run this year.
The voting trends are a reversal of what
happened In Oregon in the May Primary
when the turnout, at 34 percent, hit a low
not seen in several decades. What’s more,
turnout for the General Election tradition-
ally nets a much higher swatch of voters
than do the primaries.
The expected increase in voting could
make the race for the City Council seat
being vacated by retiring councilman Dan
Saltzman a tighter one than the May Pri-
mary when six candidates ran and Hardes-
C ontinueD on p age 6