Eighteen candidates are running in the nonpartisan election for mayor of Portland on November 5, 2024. Five candidates—Rene Gonzalez, Mingus Mapps, Liv Osthus, Carmen Rubio, and Keith Wilson—lead in media attention, polls, and campaign finance.
The Portland mayoral election is nonpartisan. Incumbent Ted Wheeler is affiliated with the Democratic party. Click here to read more about the party affiliation of the mayors of the 100 largest cities.
This is the first mayoral election in Portland to use ranked-choice voting. The new mayor will also oversee the transition to a new governmental structure. These changes were features of Measure 26-228, which Portland voters approved 58%-42% in November 2022.
A ranked-choice voting system (RCV) is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. First-preference votes cast for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.
Portland currently uses a commission government where five commissioners, including the mayor, are elected citywide to act both executively and legislatively. Portland is switching to a mayor-council government with a 12-member city council elected by district. OPB’s Alex Zielinski wrote, “Under this ‘mayor-council’ model, city councilors will focus solely on legislating and will no longer oversee city bureaus. These departments will instead be overseen by a new city administrator, who will report to the mayor.”
Homelessness is a key issue in the race. The Associated Press’ Claire Rush wrote that the top candidates have “presented different visions for reducing homelessness in a metro area where a January 2023 count found nearly 4,000 people living unsheltered.”
In an October 15 debate between the top five candidates, the participants were asked to grade Portland’s response to homelessness. Gonzalez gave the city a C, citing a lack of housing production. Mapps gave it the highest grade of C+ and said that while current transitional housing efforts are helping, more permanent housing efforts are needed. Osthus gave it a D and said she would like more state-level involvement. Rubio gave the city an Incomplete grade “on the way to a C,” saying shelter and housing development efforts needed more time to produce results. Wilson gave the city an F and called the city’s handling of homelessness a complete failure.
Gonzalez is a business attorney and city commissioner. He said, “I am running for Mayor to ensure the work we have begun on crime, homelessness, the drug crisis, and economic revitalization continue stronger than ever.”
Mapps is a political scientist and city commissioner. Mapps said, “If you want common sense solutions to our most crucial problems, I sure hope that you’ll consider ranking me number one in the mayor’s race.”
Osthus said, “I am an artist. A writer, musician, stripper,” and added, “I’m aghast that this city doesn’t put more value on arts and its artists. I believe art and artists can revive downtown, and I want to be sure that message is heard loud and clear throughout the city.”
Rubio is a city commissioner. Rubio said, “Portlanders deserve a mayor who will take us into our future without drama – just hard, collaborative work, especially on community safety, homelessness and housing. That’s how I’ve led as a Commissioner, and how I will do so as Portland’s next mayor.”
Wilson is the chief executive officer of a trucking company and founder of the nonprofit Shelter Portland. Wilson said on his campaign website, “Enough is enough. We refuse to accept the status quo. Within one year, I’ll end unsheltered homelessness in our city.”
Saadiq Ali, Shei’Meka As-Salaam, James Atkinson, Michael Hayes, Durrell Kinsey Bey, Josh Leake, James Macdonald, Sharon Nasset, Michael Necula, Alexander Landry Neely, Michael O’Callaghan, Martin Ward, and Dustin Witherspoon are also running.
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