Hold onto those ballots! We’re back with more Ballot Banter. If you live in District 4 (West/Sellwood), make sure to listen to my conversation with Lisa Caballero. This time I sat down with District 2 (N/NE) resident and cycling advocate extraordinaire Kiel Johnson. You might know Kiel as one of the leaders of Bike Loud PDX or maybe as the guy who owns Go by Bike!, the largest bike valet in North America. Or perhaps you know him as the dude who put his body on the line and stood in front of a striping truck to prevent the removal of a bike lane on NE 33rd. I first got to know Kiel in 2010 when he created “bike trains” (now called bike buses) at local schools as a fresh college graduate.
I loved talking to Kiel about D2 not just because I love and respect him as a friend, but because I live in the district too!
We went over the basic demographics of the district, went down a list of viable candidates, highlighted the ones we think are strongest when it comes to cycling and transportation, discussed the various major endorsements, and much more.
D2 is arguably the most competitive district, with more candidates (18) than any other district having qualified for public matching funds and eight different candidates nabbing at least one endorsement from the three big media outlets. This episode will help you make sense of it all, so grab your ballot and voters pamphlet and sit down for a listen or watch it on YouTube below…
Links for this episode:
- Small Donor Elections D2 database
- Rose City Reform D2 Candidate Page
- D2 endorsements from The Oregonian
- D2 endorsements from The Willamette Week
- D2 endorsements from The Portland Mercury
- BikePortland 2024 Election Coverage
