To all of our readers in Portland and Oregon (which is just over half of our audience by the way), your ballots are due by 8:00 pm tonight. There really is no good reason to sit this one out, so if you haven’t mailed in your ballot yet, check out BallotDrop.org for a location near you.
In Portland, we’ve got a tight race for Mayor that could very likely be decided by who shows up. The most recent OPB poll shows that Charlie Hales has surged into the lead with 32% of the vote, Jefferson Smith getting 24%, and Eileen Brady dropping seven percentage points in just one month to come in third with 16%. Remember, a candidate must get over 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff in November.
There are also two other seats on Portland City Council up grabs. In the same poll, incumbent commissioner Amanda Fritz is leading challenger Mary Nolan by 8 points (33 to 25). In the race for Randy Leonard’s seat, Steve Novick is the overwhelming favorite. His only challenge is to get over 50% to avoid a runoff.
And of course there are a host of other local contests, measures (including the library!) and statewide offices up for grabs. I know all of you are smart enough to use the Google machine to do your research, so, if you’re still undecided, the only link I’ll share is a shameless plug to re-read our politics coverage, including the in-depth interviews with each mayoral candidate.
Feel free to share you thoughts on tonight’s election in the comments below.
Thanks for reading.
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Please remember you cannot mail in your ballot.. it’s too late to do that! Voters must drop off at a ballot drop before 8pm tonight. Yay Democracy!
Go Jefferson!
he’s at the top of my list too because of recent comments he made about transportation…
For those who loves themselves the bike politics, like Bike Walk Vote on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
And yes, our endorsements for this primary – if you haven’t voted yet – are Jefferson Smith, Mary Nolan, Sam Chase, Dick Schouten, Jeff Reardon, and Novick, Stacey, Dirksen, and Keny-Guyer.
Disclaimer: I serve as co-chair.
Thanks for biking, walking, taking transit, and voting!
C’mon Bike Portland readers, VOTE! (I’m voting for Jefferson Smith and Jeri Williams.)
Jefferson! 😀
Jefferson Smith! Please vote.
I’m torn between can-he-be-an-effective-administrator Jefferson Smith and disingenuous-tax-dodger Charlie Hales, but ended up voting strategically for Jefferson, to help ensure we have a runoff between them. I hope that’s how it turns out tonight, because I really would look forward to a continued debate between these two — without Eileen in the picture.
I did end up going against BikeWalkVote’s endorsement in the city council race, and voted for Amanda Fritz instead. Despite Fritz’ boneheaded, inflammatory and divisive comments about cyclists a while back (which really, really, REALLY made me want to vote her out), I managed to put that anger aside, because I thought wweek and portlandmercury made really strong cases for her over Mary Nolan in their endorsements.
I’m pretty sure the Willamette Week endorsed Nolan not Fritz.
Eric’s right. The WWeek is pretty strongly for Nolan…. of course, you could be arguing that their endorsement overview made you support Fritz.
http://wweek.com/portland/article-19127-election_is_coming.html?current_page=3
“But we found ourselves liking the idea of Amanda Fritz more than the commissioner who’s held office for 3½ years. Fritz has proven too great a disappointment… Overall, though, Fritz has been less than effective. At times she acts as if she’s above engaging in politics. Unfortunately, politics is part of the job, and she hasn’t learned how to navigate City Hall.
“…. We have no doubts about [Nolan’s] ability to lead and her track record of accomplishment. And leadership is what has been lacking here.”
Whoops, you’re right. I read both, sometime last week. I just found the Merc’s endorsement a whole lot more persuasive.
you just confused my choice in the Fritz/Nolan debate I am having with myself, arggg.
Not sure who to vote for? Check out http://bikewalkvote.org/
Also, many thanks to Jonathan for great coverage and interviews with the candidates, and helping hold their feet to the fire on cycling and other transportation issues.
While I have much love for my friends at Bike Walk Vote, I think people should take a closer look at the City Council races and choose for themselves.
Jeri Williams has been working for years at the neighborhood level to oppose I-5 freeway expansion and the CRC mega highway project, and Amanda Fritz was the only NO vote in city council against the CRC. Both of these women are champions of inclusiveness, equity and good process.
But I’m certainly with BWV on the mayoral tip, because Jefferson Smith would ALSO be a champion for inclusiveness, equity and good process, so he’s got my vote!
Also Jefferson has been a strong and consistent opponent of the CRC mega highway project.
Yes! Thank you for emphasizing that.
We put together a CRC Voters Guide if folks are interested in looking more in depth at the candidates on this particular issue: http://bit.ly/crcvote
Jefferson Smith! Smart guy, pragmatic, and funny as hell.
Here’s a great TED talk he did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYIpDmuMFpw