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.