October 23, 2024
Page 9
19 Mayoral Candidates Compete
to Lead in Portland, Oregon
A Lot of
Political
Changes to
Come in a
Race with
Homelessness
at its Heart
(AP) The open mayoral race in
the state’s most populous city fea-
tures 19 candidates — all vying to
lead after years of growing frustra-
tion over homeless encampments.
Among them: three City Council
members, including one ensnared
in a driving record scandal; a
stripper; and a trucking company
CEO vowing to end unsheltered
homelessness in 12 months.
The race was thrown open
when Mayor Ted Wheeler de-
cided against seeking reelec-
tion after holding the city’s top
post since 2017. Wheeler rose
to national prominence in 2020
as nightly protests erupted on
Portland streets and around the
country in response to the po-
lice killing of George Floyd.
Whoever wins the mayoral
seat will oversee a complete-
ly new system of government.
Portland is expanding its City
Council from five to 12 mem-
bers, who will be elected by
voters in individual districts
rather than citywide, and adding
a city manager position. And all
the candidates — including the
nearly 100 running for the new
council seats — will be elected
by ranked-choice voting for the
first time. Changing Portland’s
charter had been on the ballot
before, but failed until voters
approved the overhaul in 2022.
The most recent charter review
kicked off amid the 2020 pro-
tests and a nationwide reckoning
with racism that prompted con-
versations about making gov-
ernment more accountable and
equitable. Numerous candidates
of color are now running for the
new council seats and mayor in
the majority-white city. But it’s
still unclear how voters, and
those elected, will navigate the
new system and its logistics.
“I don’t think that anyone has
a really clear sense of exactly
how things are going to work
immediately after this election,”
The “Portland, Oregon” sign is illuminated in with the Wells Fargo Center Building in the background in downtown Portland, Ore.,
Jan.27,2015. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)
said Chris Shortell, associate
professor of political science at
Portland State University.
There are a few constants in
this year’s campaign, however
— concerns over homelessness
and public drug use. Surveys
conducted over the past few
years have shown that Portland
residents view homelessness as
a top issue, said John Horvick,
senior vice president of polling
firm DHM Research.
“The key issues remain the key
issues,” said Horvick. “Those
continue to be the organizing
principles of Portland politics
and will certainly be through this
election and beyond.”
City council members Rene
Gonzalez and Carmen Rubio
have led in fundraising among
the mayoral candidates, along
with Keith Wilson, whose freight
company
includes
electric
trucks. They’ve presented differ-
ent visions for reducing home-
lessness in a metro area where a
January 2023 count found nearly
4,000 people living unsheltered.
Gonzalez, who is endorsed by
law enforcement groups, pres-
sured Multnomah County, home
to Portland, to pause giving tents
and tarps to homeless people. He
has pushed for stricter enforce-
ment of anti-camping rules.
Rubio has called for more
outreach workers and improved
coordination between the play-
ers in the homelessness response
system, such as shelters and so-
cial service groups.
Wilson, who founded a non-
profit working to increase home-
less shelter capacity, has pledged
to end unsheltered homelessness
in his first year on the job. His
campaign website says he’ll ac-
complish this ambitious goal in
part by increasing the number
of nighttime walk-in emergency
shelters in existing facilities such
as churches and community cen-
ters. The three leading fundrais-
ers are followed by City Council
member Mingus Mapps, as well
as Liv Østhus, a writer, musician
and stripper whose stage name is
Viva Las Vegas.
Mapps, whose campaign has
struggled to gain momentum,
is hoping to become Portland’s
first Black mayor. If either he, or
Rubio or Gonzalez — who have
Latino heritage — are elected, it
would mark the first time a per-
son of color has led the city.
For much of the year, Rubio
and Gonzalez were viewed as
frontrunners. But recent revela-
tions about Rubio’s driving re-
cord — as well as Gonzalez’s,
to a much lesser extent — have
shaken up the race. Rubio has re-
ceived roughly 150 parking and
traffic violations over the last
two decades. She failed to pay
many of them for months or even
years and had her license sus-
pended six times. She lost some
endorsements following the
news, which was first reported
by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
“The best I can do at this point
is to say again that I’m very sor-
ry, and that earning Portlanders’
trust back is an ongoing commit-
ment I take very seriously,” Ru-
bio said in an emailed statement.
Gonzalez also had his license
suspended twice over 20 years
ago and racked up seven speed-
ing tickets between 1998 and
2013, including one that was
dismissed, as first reported by
Willamette Week.
“As a younger man, I some-
times drove too fast,” Gonzalez
said in an emailed statement.
“But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve
become more responsible and it
is reflected in my record.” The
news about driving records has
created an opportunity for Wil-
son, who has never held elected
office, said Shortell, the Port-
land State professor.
“What looked like it was go-
ing to be a straightforward race
has shifted in recent weeks into a
little bit more open-ended race,”
he said. “That has, when com-
bined with the ranked-choice
voting system, opened some
space for Keith Wilson.”
Under ranked-choice voting,
voters rank their picks in order
of preference on the ballot. If a
candidate is the first choice of
more than 50% of voters in the
first round of counting, that can-
didate wins.
Otherwise, the count continues
to a second round. The candidate
with the fewest votes is elimi-
nated, and voters who chose that
candidate as their top pick have
their votes redistributed to their
next choice. The process contin-
ues with the candidate with the
fewest votes getting eliminated
until someone emerges with a
majority of votes.
If Rubio and Gonzalez end up
splitting voters, Wilson could be
a second choice for enough vot-
ers to potentially advance, Shor-
tell said.
The new voting system, new
form of government, and sheer
number of people running for of-
fice represent a lot of moving parts
for both candidates and voters,
and it may take multiple election
cycles for City Hall and residents
to get a clear sense of how things
work, Shortell said.
“Right now it’s a new system,
and everyone is trying to figure
out what it means,” he said. “And
that’s the nature of change.”