May 17 Election Review: Municipal elections in Louisville and Portland
May 18, 2016
By Ballotpedia's Municipal government team
Louisville, Ky., and Portland, Ore., held municipal elections on May 17, 2016. Partisan primaries were conducted in Louisville for six of the 13 district seats up for election this year. Four of the races were Democratic primaries, which effectively determined the future officeholders because all four primary winners will run uncontested in the fall. The winners of the two Republican primaries will both go on to a contested general election.
Portland held nonpartisan elections for mayor and two districts of the city council. Voters chose from crowded races, with 15 candidates for mayor and a total of 16 candidates in the two city council races. According to unofficial results, only Position 4 of the city council will be on the general election ballot. The mayoral winner, Ted Wheeler, and the winner of the Position 1 council seat both garnered over 50 percent of the vote, thus avoiding having to run in the general.
Louisville
Louisville, Ky., held primary elections for six districts of the Louisville Metro Council on May 17, 2016. A total of 20 candidates ran in the primary election for the six seats. For Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8, Democratic primaries were held, and since no Republican filed to run for those districts, the winners from last night have almost certainly clinched their respective seats. Districts 14 and 16 held Republican primaries, although the winners of those races must still face a Democratic candidate in November. As it stands, these two districts will be the only contested general election races.
The District 14 race between Republican candidates Shane Ranschaert and Eric Bullock was extremely close, with unofficial results showing Ranschaert beating Bullock by four votes. Assuming a recount does not disprove his victory, Ranschaert will face incumbent Cindi Fowler (D) in November. In the other Republican primary—for District 16—Scott W. Reed handily defeated William Sobel with almost 73 percent of the vote. He will face Democratic candidate Gill Holland in the general.
In the Democratic races, both incumbents running won their primaries: Barbara Shanklin defeated four challengers in the District 2 race, and David James defeated one challenger for District 6. The contests for Districts 4 and 8 are open races, where incumbents David W. Tandy and Tom Owen did not run for re-election. Barbara Sexton Smith beat two others in the District 4 primary, and S. Brandon Coan won a close race in a field of seven candidates for District 8.[1]
Results
These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.
| Louisville Metro Council District 2, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Barbara Shanklin Incumbent |
47.31% | 1,707 |
| Caroline Grundy | 23.28% | 840 |
| Rasean Crawley | 20.65% | 745 |
| Rick Harrison | 8.76% | 316 |
| Total Votes | 3,608 | |
| Source: Jefferson County Election Center, "Primary Election Unofficial Results," May 17, 2016 | ||
| Louisville Metro Council District 4, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Barbara Sexton Smith |
65.34% | 2,270 |
| Bryan Burns | 26.74% | 929 |
| Marshall Gazaway | 7.92% | 275 |
| Total Votes | 3,474 | |
| Source: Jefferson County Election Center, "Primary Election Unofficial Results," May 17, 2016 | ||
| Louisville Metro Council District 6, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| David James Incumbent |
57.60% | 2,248 |
| Carol Clark | 42.40% | 1,655 |
| Total Votes | 3,903 | |
| Source: Jefferson County Election Center, "Primary Election Unofficial Results," May 17, 2016 | ||
| Louisville Metro Council District 8, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| S. Brandon Coan |
24.22% | 2,275 |
| Stephen Reily | 22.99% | 2,159 |
| Chris Kolb | 19.96% | 1,875 |
| Terra Long | 14.79% | 1,389 |
| Lynnie Meyer | 14.59% | 1,370 |
| Josh White | 3.20% | 301 |
| Charles Wooden | 0.24% | 23 |
| Total Votes | 9,392 | |
| Source: Jefferson County Election Center, "Primary Election Unofficial Results," May 17, 2016 | ||
| Louisville Metro Council District 14, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Shane Ranschaert |
50.23% | 434 |
| Eric Bullock | 49.77% | 430 |
| Total Votes | 864 | |
| Source: Jefferson County Election Center, "Primary Election Unofficial Results," May 17, 2016 | ||
| Louisville Metro Council District 16, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Scott W. Reed |
72.87% | 1,370 |
| William Sobel | 27.13% | 510 |
| Total Votes | 1,880 | |
| Source: Jefferson County Election Center, "Primary Election Unofficial Results," May 17, 2016 | ||
Portland
The primary election in Portland functionally served as a general election; a second election (called the general election) on November 8, 2016, will only be held for contests where no candidate receives a majority of votes cast in the primary election.
Despite large numbers of candidate filings in Portland, it appears that only one of the races will advance from the primary on May 17, 2016, to the general election on November 8, 2016. Fifteen candidates filed for the mayoral race, but Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler (D) was the clear winner with a majority in the primary, as of unofficial results on Wednesday morning. Position No. 1 Commissioner Amanda Fritz also won re-election in the primary by securing a majority vote.
Ten candidates filed for the Position No. 4 seat, and unofficial results on Wednesday morning remained inconclusive as to whether or not incumbent Steve Novick would face a general election.
In addition to these packed races, a city-referred measure to institute a temporary 10-cent fuel tax was approved by voters in the primary, despite a court challenge by the petroleum industry. Citizen initiatives were allowed on the primary and general election ballots. None were successfully filed for the primary, and general election initiatives had to be submitted with at least 31,345 active voter signatures by July 8, 2016.[2][3]
Results
These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.
| Mayor of Portland, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ted Wheeler |
54.93% | 104,731 |
| Jules Kopel Bailey | 16.43% | 31,323 |
| Sarah Iannarone | 11.76% | 22,417 |
| Bruce Broussard | 3.88% | 7,399 |
| Sean Davis | 2.69% | 5,122 |
| David Schor | 2.61% | 4,981 |
| Jessie Sponberg | 1.65% | 3,146 |
| Bim Ditson | 1.27% | 2,414 |
| Patty Burkett | 1.21% | 2,310 |
| David Ackerman | 1.16% | 2,207 |
| Deborah Harris | 0.85% | 1,617 |
| Lew Humble | 0.39% | 741 |
| Trevor Manning | 0.25% | 478 |
| Steven Entwisle Sr. | 0.21% | 396 |
| Eric Calhoun | 0.18% | 345 |
| Write-in votes | 0.55% | 1,044 |
| Total Votes (>95.0% counted) | 190,671 | |
| Source: The Oregonian, "2016 Primary Election: Oregon results," accessed May 20, 2016 | ||
| Portland City Council Position No. 1, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Amanda Fritz Incumbent |
69.41% | 119,056 |
| Ann Sanderson | 10.49% | 17,996 |
| Lanita Duke | 9.32% | 15,987 |
| David Morrison | 4.12% | 7,059 |
| Tabitha Ivan | 3.34% | 5,722 |
| Sara Long | 2.52% | 4,318 |
| Write-in votes | 0.81% | 1,382 |
| Total Votes (88.0% counted) | 171,520 | |
| Source: The Oregonian, "2016 Primary Election: Oregon results," accessed May 20, 2016 | ||
| Portland City Council Position No. 4, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Steve Novick Incumbent |
42.78% | 71,503 |
| Chloe Eudaly |
14.98% | 25,044 |
| Stuart Emmons | 14.07% | 23,514 |
| Fred Stewart | 8.20% | 13,714 |
| Suzanne Stahl | 6.63% | 11,080 |
| Michael Durrow | 5.02% | 8,394 |
| James Bernard Lee | 2.48% | 4,149 |
| Leah Dumas | 2.38% | 3,974 |
| Shannon Estabrook | 1.47% | 2,459 |
| Joseph Puckett | 1.21% | 2,020 |
| Write-in votes | 0.78% | 1,299 |
| Total Votes (85.6% counted) | 167,150 | |
| Source: The Oregonian, "2016 Primary Election: Oregon results," accessed May 20, 2016 | ||
See also
- Municipal elections in Louisville, Kentucky (2016)
- Municipal elections in Portland, Oregon (2016)
- United States municipal elections, 2016
Footnotes
- ↑ Jefferson County Election Center, "Primary Election Unofficial Results," May 17, 2016
- ↑ Portland Auditor's Office, "Registry of Candidates - May 17, 2016 Primary Election," accessed March 9, 2016
- ↑ City of Portland Auditor, "Time Schedule for 2016 Municipal Elections," accessed August 13, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Portland Auditor's Office, "Registry of Candidates - May 17, 2016 Primary Election," accessed March 9, 2016
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