Amid spring blooms, budding candidate alliances.
Welcome to the March edition of Stump Talk, your end-of-the-month candidate tracker.
The month of March adorned Portland’s trees in pastel hues. It also appears to have sprouted strategic alliances between council candidates.
In a crowded field, many contenders are joining forces to boost their visibility and highlight critical issues.
As we wave goodbye to March, a whopping seventy-one candidates are currently vying for a seat at City Hall. Sixty-four of them have their sights set on the city council.
With such an abundance of candidates, how are council hopefuls expected to get their message out? For many, the solution is to band together to reach a broader audience and signal ideological alignment.
In a move emblematic of the 2024 election cycle, District 2 candidate and former cidermaker Nat West launched his campaign last weekend, joined on stage by two handfuls of council candidates he called “values-aligned.” The group included fellow District 2 contestants Jennifer Park and Elana Pirtle-Guiney.
Candidates rally behind Portland Street Response.
City Hall’s contentious budget cycle is also inspiring candidates to take collective stands. Over fifteen candidates have signed the Friends of PSR pledge. PSR stands for Portland Street Response, the city’s popular but cash-strapped unarmed crisis intervention team. Candidates who sign the pledge vow to pass an ordinance within two months of taking office that would secure funding for the program to operate 24/7 and establish it as an equal branch of the city’s first responder network. The list of signatories can be found here.
Who joined the race in March?
The past month saw five new entrants to the council race, including Mike Marshall, the founder of Oregon Recovers. Marshall, who appeared in Rose City Reform’s most recent feature story, has raised over $20,000 since his announcement.
District 2 also welcomed William Mespelt, a small business owner and property manager, and Nabil Zaghloul, director of a Multnomah County bilingual social services hub.
In District 3, Theo Hathaway Saner, a property manager for low-income renters, joined the fray. Lisa Freeman, a community safety manager for the City of Portland, is the latest newcomer in District 4.
Women are underrepresented in city races.
March was Women’s History Month and the radio station XRAY.FM hosted a candidate forum featuring women and non-binary candidates. Notably, women account for a mere 25% of Portland’s council candidate pool and only a third of mayoral candidates.
While men outnumber women in all districts, the top fundraiser in each district is female. Steph Routh leads District 1, Mariah Hudson tops District 2, and Angelita Morillo and Olivia Clark are the frontrunners in District 3 and District 4.
Gonzalez breaks the $100K fundraising mark.
According to data from the City of Portland, City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez comfortably leads mayoral fundraising efforts with over $100,000 raised. Fellow commissioner and mayoral hopeful Mingus Mapps has raised less than half that amount, $49,000, despite launching his campaign almost six months before Gonzalez. City Commissioner Carmen Rubio has amassed $39,000, while Keith Wilson and Liv Osthus stand at $23,000 and $6,000, respectively.
Early start for union endorsements.
Unions are taking an early lead in endorsing candidates for this election cycle, and they’re largely backing the same candidates. Tony Morse (D4) and Jonathan Tasini (D2) enjoy the strongest union support. Other candidates backed by unions include Jamie Dunphy, Timur Ender, and Steph Routh in District 1, Mariah Hudson and Elana Pirtle-Guiney in District 2, Chris Flanary and Tiffany Koyama Lane in District 3, and Olivia Clark, Tony Morse, and Eric Zimmerman in District 4. Thus far, no candidates in District 3 have received a union nod.
Want real-time election coverage? Head over to the Rose City Reform’s daily candidate tracker!
Interested in the city’s transition to a new governance system? Catch North Star Civic Foundation’s upcoming event series. Register to attend here.
And, without further ado, here’s your full list of candidates running for city seats:
Portland Mayor:
Incumbent: Ted Wheeler (not seeking re-election)
Portland City Council:
Each district elects three representatives.
DISTRICT 1 (D1) - EAST PORTLAND
Joe Furi (no website)
Thomas Shervey (no website)
Rumored: Former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith
DISTRICT 2 (D2) - NORTH/NORTHEAST
Dan Ryan (incumbent)
Nabil Zaghloul (no website)
Rumored: PPS School Board Member Michelle DePass
DISTRICT 3 (D3) - CENTRAL/SOUTHEAST
Matthew Anderson (no website)
Theo Hathaway Saner (no website)
Rumored: Rachel Clark, daughter of late Mayor Bud Clark
DISTRICT 4 (D4) - WEST
Michael Trimble (no website)
Rumored: Attorney Kelly Michael Doyle, small business owner and Oregon Voter Digest host John Toran, and Former PGE Exec Nik Blosser
Portland Auditor
Simone Rede (incumbent)
I know the last thing you need is more (unpaid) work, but it would be great if you would post these on Instagram from time to time to make for easy sharing. Just sayin'.