Liv Osthus has taken a very unconventional path to being a viable candidate for Portland’s highest political office. The 50 year-old from Sioux Falls, South Dakota is the daughter of a Lutheran preacher who moved to Portland in 1996 and fell in love with our city’s infamously bohemian lifestyle. She’s been a professional stripper ever since and still works at Mary’s Club, where, with each dollar she takes from an adoring customer, she hones the catchphrase that has since become the title of a full-length documentary about her life, “Thank your for supporting the arts.”
Now this author, singer, speaker, single mom of a 9-year-old daughter and noted advocate for sex workers, is garnering attention on a different stage: politics. Osthus’ campaign for Portland mayor has caught fire in recent days and weeks as Portlanders seek an alternative to the status quo. She’s breaking through with memorable performances in debates and forums where she shares a vision of Portland that’s “full of hopefulness, not homelessness.”
Osthus jumped into the race relatively late with no money or volunteers, but has since garnered considerable amounts of both. What was once an innocent attempt to inject a new, optimistic and artistic spirit into the race, has become something more substantial. This week Osthus unveiled large campaign billboards (one of them is a spoof on the famous “Expose yourself to art” poster made famous by former Mayor Bud Clark that reads, “Expose yourself to politics”) and she’s a regular at high-profile events alongside the front-runners. With Portland about to rank votes for the first time ever, a sense of “What if?” still floats around her campaign.
In this interview Osthus ranks her choices for mayor with honest assessments of her competitors, explains why her top priorities differ from other candidates, shares her personal mobility story, tells me why the time is right for the Liv Osthus Era in Portland, and more.
Listen in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.
— Learn more about Liv Osthus at her campaign website or her Rose City Reform Candidate page. You can also watch Osthus in the KGW/The Oregonian Mayoral Debate tonight (Tuesday, October 15) at 6:30 pm.
