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12-03-2024 8:56 am • PDX and SEA Weather
MLK Breakfast
The next Portland city elections in November will seat a larger, more representative form of city government and a mayor whose job description will differ from predecessors’.
The size of the city council will increase to 12, with three representatives per four new geographical districts. (Previously, four city commissioners held citywide seats.) Once elected, city councilors will have fewer administrative duties and will focus more on legislative activities; they will no longer be assigned as heads of city bureaus, which will now be overseen by a city administrator.
The mayor will no longer act as a kind of fifth city commissioner, but will handle more executive duties and will only weigh in on city council sessions in order to break a tie in votes. The mayor will not have veto power over council decisions.
This voter-approved change may seem drastic, but it will bring Portland more in-step with other large- and medium-sized city governments in the U.S.
Previously, candidates for city council ran citywide campaigns, and there was no guarantee that there would be equal geographic representation across the city. Often, this meant that areas like East Portland – home to diverse communities that include refugees and Portlanders pushed out of older neighborhoods due to gentrification, and comprising nearly a third of the city’s population – did not seem to get equal consideration to downtown or the more central core of the city. In fact, in the city’s history, only three commissioners have lived east of 82nd Avenue.
Now, East Portland will be known as District 1 on a new map that delineates four council districts.
Members of the Government Transition Advisory Committee explained to The Skanner that as this first cohort of leaders is elected and takes office, details will still have to be ironed out: It is likely city councilors will opt to have physical offices within their respective districts, where their constituents can visit and possibly obtain resources from the city. Due to the size of the new council, GTAC volunteers recommend new councilors create sub-committees to tackle various policy issues more efficiently.
How do voters specify their three selections for city councilors in their district? Through a system called ranked-choice voting. Simply put, when voting for mayor, auditor and city councilors, voters will be asked for their top-six preferences, ranked in order of priority. When the votes are counted, whichever mayoral or auditor candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, wins. In council races, candidates receiving just over 25% of first-choice votes win.
It gets more complicated if no candidates achieve these marks. In that case, the lowest-scoring candidate is eliminated, and each first-choice vote for that candidate is then transferred to the number-two pick on ballots that selected the now-eliminated candidate as a first pick. This continues until a candidate or candidates in each category meet the minimum threshold for victory.
The city has provided a practice ballot here: portland.gov/vote/ranked-choice-voting.
The process may sound overly complicated, but it is also referred to as the "single transferable vote" system – emphasizing that if a voter’s top pick is eliminated, their vote is still used on a preferred candidate. This also eliminates the chance of run-off races, like the showdown between Jo Ann Hardesty and current commissioner Rene Gonzalez in late 2022.
Ranked-choice voting expert Grace Ramsey told The Skanner that this system often allows for marginalized or less-funded candidates to have a better chance at office, allowing for greater diversity in representation. It also allows voters to more confidently choose “long shot” candidates as their first choice, because if that candidate doesn’t perform well during the election, the vote isn’t lost – it’s transferred to the voter’s second-choice candidate. In some cases, Ramsey has observed candidates more openly supporting competitors with similar values.
As predicted, the list of candidates for council district seats is lengthy. Not only are they all running for one of three openings, but as Ramsey has pointed out, ranked-choice voting and more localized representation has encouraged more first-time candidates to throw their hats in the ring. There are also more BIPOC candidates running this year.
The following candidates have filed to run as of press time. This list is subject to change, as the candidate filing period ends Aug. 27.
Three current members of Portland City Council are running for the mayoral seat: Rene Gonzalez, Mingus Mapps and Carmen Rubio. Fellow commissioner Dan Ryan is running for a council seat in District 2.
Also running are:
Saadiq Ali, early childhood educator Shei'Meka As-Salaam, inventor James Atkinson IV, REAP youth advocate Durrell Kinsey Bey, financial advisor Nancy Congdon, Yao Jun He, advocate for the unhoused and community activist Michael O’Callaghan, artist and performer Liv Osthus, city hall veteran and green energy advocate Marshall Runkel, owner and president of TITAN Freight Systems Keith Wilson and maintenance supervisor Dustin Witherspoon.
Current Portland City Auditor Simone Rede is currently running for reelection unopposed.
To find your council district, visit portlandmaps.com.
This district lies largely to the east of 205 and includes the area surrounding PDX.
The District 1 race boasts political veteran Loretta Smith, as well as Verde executive director Candace Avalos, water service inspector Doug Clove, American Cancer Society government relations director Jamie Dunphy, former infrastructure project manager Timur Ender, attorney Noah Ernst, Joe Furi, Restore Nuisance Abatement owner Terrence Hayes, David Linn, Sonja McKenzie, Peggy Sue Owens, organizational development consultant Steph Routh, Deian Salazar, retired attorney and judge Michael Sands, office assistant Thomas Shervey and APANO community organizer Cayle Tern.
This district lies largely north of the Willamette and north of I-84 and borders PDX.
Portland Public School Board Vice Chair Michelle DePass and current Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan have filed to run in this district, along with optometry clinic owner James Armstrong, Reuben Berlin, Alan Blake, David Burnell, Marnie Glickman, senior healthcare communicator for OHSU Mariah Hudson, Sameer Kanal, Debbie Kitchin, Mike Marshall, William Mespelt, John Middleton, grassroots organizer Chris Olson, programs director for The Shadow Project Jennifer Park, people and culture manager for the City of Portland Tiffani Penson, policy and advocacy consultant Eliana Pirtle-Guiney, Sam Sachs, small business consultant Bob Simiril, Laura Streib, founder and executive director of Just Transition For All Jonathan Tasini, Nat West and Nabil Zaghloul.
This district encompasses southeast Portland, mostly south of I-84 and west of 82nd, and includes the Montavilla neighborhood.
Former Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick is running, along with Parkrose High math teacher Matthew Anderson, clinical pharmacist Sandeep Bali, Melodie Beirwagen, Rex Burkholder, policy and advocacy director of Oregon Recovers Jesse Cornett, Daniel DeMelo, Chris Flanary, Dan Gilk, Theo Hathaway Saner, Kelly Janes, Harrison Kass, reentry and eviction defense program manager Philippe Knab, scientific instrument technician at Oregon OSHA Kent Landgraver, PPS teacher Tiffany Koyama Lane, policy advocate and legislative strategist for Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon Angelita Morilla, hotel assistant general manager David O’Connor, Ahlam Osman, Terry Parker, web developer Jaclyn Smith-Moore, Jonathan Walker and sports and events manager for Travel Salem Luke Zak.
District 4 encompasses Southwest Portland.
The District 4 race includes Eli Arnold, Patrick Cashman, Olivia Clark, Mike DiNapoli, Thomas Dodson, Kelly Doyle, Brandon Farley, Lisa Freeman, Kevin Goldsmith, Mitch Green, Chris Henry, Ben Hufford, Chad Lykins, Tony Morse, Stanley Penkin, Moses Ross, Sarah Silkie, Jeremy Beausoleil Smith, Ciatta Thompson, John Toran, Michael Trimble, Andra Vltavin, Bob Weinstein and Eric Zimmerman.
