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Municipal elections in Portland, Oregon (2016)

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2016 Portland elections
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Election dates
Filing deadline: N/A
Primary election: May 17, 2016
General election: November 8, 2016
Election stats
Offices up: Mayor and city commission
Other municipal elections
U.S. municipal elections, 2016

Despite large numbers of candidates filing in Portland, only one of the races advanced from the primary on May 17, 2016, to the general election on November 8, 2016. Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler (D) won the mayoral race with almost 20,000 more votes than all of the other candidates combined. Position No. 1 Commissioner Amanda Fritz also won re-election in the primary by securing a majority vote.

Position No. 4 Commissioner Steve Novick, meanwhile, faced a general election. While Novick was the top primary vote recipient, he did not secure a majority of the votes—over 50 percent—only a plurality. Chloe Eudaly was the second-highest primary vote recipient and advanced out of the field of nine challengers to face Novick in November.

A second election (called the general election) on November 8, 2016, was only held for contests where no candidate received a majority of votes cast in the primary election.

In addition to these 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 on July 8, 2016.[1][2]

Elections

General election

Candidate list

City Commission Position No. 4

Results

Chloe Eudaly defeated incumbent Steve Novick in the city council Position No. 4 general election.
Portland City Council Position No. 4, General Election, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Chloe Eudaly 54.33% 138,347
Steve Novick Incumbent 44.70% 113,834
Write-in votes 0.97% 2,464
Total Votes 254,645
Source: Oregon Secretary of State, "Unofficial election results," accessed November 14, 2016

Primary election

Candidate list

Mayor of Portland

Note: Incumbent Charlie Hales did not run for re-election.[3]

City Commission Position No. 1

City Commission Position No. 4


Results

B

The following candidates ran in the city council Position No. 1 primary election.[4]
Portland City Council Position No. 1, Primary Election, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png 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


The following candidates ran in the city council Position No. 4 primary election.[4]
Portland City Council Position No. 4, Primary Election, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Steve Novick Incumbent 42.78% 71,503
Green check mark transparent.png 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

Campaign finance

Twelve of the 30 candidates for the Portland mayoral and city commission races had reported contributions and spending to the Oregon secretary of state as of October 8, 2016. Combined, the candidates reported a total of $1.6 million in contributions and $1.7 million in expenditures.

The mayoral race saw the most heated campaign finance activity, with more than 60 percent of the total contributions in the three contests going to that race. Ted Wheeler and Jules Kopel Bailey dominated, with Wheeler outpacing Kopel Bailey more than four to one in both contribution and spending totals.

The table below shows campaign finance information reported by candidates in all three races as of October 8, 2016. Candidates who did not report any contributions or spending in 2016 are not included. Click [show] in the green bar for each contest to display each candidate's total beginning campaign balance, contributions, expenditures, outstanding loans and personal expenditures, and overall campaign balance.[5]

There were two regular campaign finance reporting deadlines prior to the primary election: April 3, 2016, and April 12, 2016. All campaign finance transactions in the 42 days preceding and including the primary election date had to be reported within seven days of the transaction.

The graph and table below show campaign finance information reported by candidates in all three races as of April 14, 2016. Candidates who did not report any contributions or spending in 2016 are not included.

Click [show] in the green bar for each contest to display each candidate's total beginning campaign balance, contributions, expenditures, outstanding loans and personal expenditures, and overall campaign balance.[6]

BP-Initials-UPDATED.png The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may not represent all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer, and campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Polling

Polling conducted from March 28, 2016, to April 1, 2016, found a strong lead for Ted Wheeler in the mayoral race, but a large number of voters remained undecided at the time. Candidates polling less that 4 percent are not included in the table.

There are 15 candidates on the ballot for mayor. Please let us read you the list of candidates, in alphabetical order, and then you can tell us which one candidate you will vote for. If you were filling out your ballot for Portland Mayor today, who would you vote for?
Poll Ackerman BaileyBurkettWheelerUndecidedMargin of ErrorSample Size
SurveyUSA with KATU-TV Portland
March 28, 2016–April 1, 2016		4%8%4%38%31%+/-4.2%576
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted on this issue. Those displayed are a sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.


Issues

Temporary fuel tax referendum: Resolution 37185

Projected allocations of funds raised by Resolution 37185 tax
Allocation
(millions) 		Project
$35.8
 Street repairs
$8.8
 School crossings
$6.4
 Sidewalk completion
$5.6
 Bicycle/car conflict reduction
$3.9
 High crash corridor safety improvement
$3.4
 Intersection safety improvements
Total projected revenues:
$64 million

Portland primary election voters decided whether or not the city could implement a four-year 10-cent-per-gallon fuel (gasoline and diesel) sales tax, which would be used to fund street repairs and transit safety. The tax would have been the highest in the state.[7]

In its resolution, the city commission described the status of roads in the city, saying,

“ For almost thirty years, Portland's streets have been deteriorating due to inadequate transportation funding. Every year, Portland's street maintenance backlog gets worse. Postponing repairs leads to worsening deterioration making future street repair more expensive. Street investments now save money later.[8] ”
—Portland City Commission (January 2016)[9]

The city's road problems, however, were much larger than what the projected $64 million in revenues from the fuel tax resolution could provide. Reports from August 2015 stated that the city's backlog of road maintenance projects would cost almost $1.2 billion over 10 years to complete.[10] Regardless of the actual revenues, the city commission stated that it would spend 56 percent on street repairs and 44 percent on safety projects.[11]

The city began a push to fund street improvements in 2014, but the 2016 resolution was the first action to go before voters on the matter. According to Commissioner Steve Novick, approximately 63 percent of voters supported the measure at the time of the resolution's passage on January 27, 2016.[7]

Oregon Fuels Association logo.JPG

Meanwhile, The Oregonian reported that the petroleum industry had "vowed a strong opposition campaign." The Oregon Fuels Association (OFA) filed a challenge of the ballot measure's wording in the Multnomah County Circuit Court.[11] The group also vowed to campaign against the measure if their court challenge failed. "There will be a very broad coalition opposing this at the ballot in May, I can guarantee you that," stated OFA lobbyist Paul Romain. The challenge to the city's ballot title and explanatory statement, however, was dismissed by Circuit Court Judge Karin J. Immergut on March 8, 2016.[7][12]

Ballot measure language

The referendum appeared on the ballot as follows:

“
CAPTION

Temporary Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax for Street Repair, Traffic Safety.

QUESTION

Shall Portland adopt four year, 10 cents per gallon fuel tax dedicated to street repair, safety (including safer crossings, sidewalks)?

SUMMARY

Measure creates program dedicated to street repair, traffic safety through temporary, ten-cents per gallon tax on motor vehicle fuels in Portland for vehicles not subject to weight-mile tax, estimated to raise $64 million over four years. Tax implemented no earlier than September 2016, expires in four years. Establishes license requirements.

Project categories with examples in each category:

  • Street repair, ($35.8 million) - Parts of SE Foster, N Denver, NE Alberta
  • Safe Routes to School, ($8.8 million) – Lent Elementary traffic calming, David Douglas HS sidewalks, George Middle School crossings
  • Sidewalk completion, ($6.4 million) – SW Capitol Highway, NE 14th
  • High Crash Corridor safety improvements, ($3.9 million) - lighting on SE Powell, crosswalk improvements on NE Sandy, 82nd Avenue, SW Beaverton/Hillsdale Highway
  • Reducing bicycle / car conflicts, ($5.6 million) – two Neighborhood Greenways in East Portland, safer bicycle routes downtown
  • Intersection safety improvements, ($3.4 million) - focused on improving access to transit: NE MLK, US 30

Citizen oversight committee reviews expenditures, provides annual reports. Audits required.[13][8]

”

About the city

See also: Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city in Oregon, located in Multnomah County. As of 2010, its population was 583,776.

City government

Since 1913, the city of Portland has utilized a commission system. In this form of municipal government, a city council—composed of an elected mayor and a board of elected commissioners—serves as the city's primary legislative and administrative body.[14] In Portland, the council also possesses quasi-judicial powers.[15]

The city commission system is one of the oldest forms of municipal government in the United States. Portland is the only city out of America's largest 100 that still uses it.[15][16]

Demographics

The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographic Data for Portland, Oregon
Portland Oregon
Population 583,776 3,831,074
Land area (sq mi) 133 95,995
Race and ethnicity**
White 77.4% 84.3%
Black/African American 5.8% 1.9%
Asian 8.2% 4.4%
Native American 0.8% 1.2%
Pacific Islander 0.6% 0.4%
Other (single race) 1.9% 3.1%
Multiple 5.3% 4.8%
Hispanic/Latino 9.7% 13%
Education
High school graduation rate 92.4% 90.7%
College graduation rate 50.4% 33.7%
Income
Median household income $71,005 $62,818
Persons below poverty level 13.7% 13.2%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2010). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2014-2019).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Portland Oregon election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Municipal elections in Portland, Oregon (2016) - Google News

See also

Portland, Oregon Oregon Municipal government Other local coverage
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Portland Auditor's Office, "Registry of Candidates - May 17, 2016 Primary Election," accessed March 9, 2016
  2. ↑ City of Portland Auditor, "Time Schedule for 2016 Municipal Elections," accessed August 13, 2015
  3. ↑ The Oregonian, "Portland Mayor Charlie Hales withdraws re-election bid," October 26, 2015
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Portland Auditor's Office, "Registry of Candidates - May 17, 2016 Primary Election," accessed March 9, 2016
  5. ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Committee/Filer Search Results," accessed October 8, 2016
  6. ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Committee/Filer Search Results," accessed April 14, 2016
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Oregonian, "Take it easy, Portland: You get to vote on a gas tax," January 27, 2016
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  9. ↑ Portland Auditor's Office, "Exhibit C: Explanatory Statement for Voters' pamphlet," accessed February 8, 2016
  10. ↑ The Oregonian, "Portland's paving problem climbs to nearly $1.2 billion," August 1, 2015
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Portland Auditor's Office, "May 2016 Primary Election City-Referred Measures," accessed February 8, 2016
  12. ↑ City of Portland, "Measure 26-173 Motor Vehicles Fuels Tax: Judge Immergut Stipulated Order," March 8, 2016
  13. ↑ City of Portland Oregon, "Measure 26-173 Motor Vehicles Fuels Tax: Final Ballot Title," March 8, 2016
  14. ↑ City of Portland, "Elected Officials," accessed September 2, 2014
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 City of Portland, "City Government Structure," accessed December 19, 2014
  16. ↑ National League of Cities, "Forms of Municipal Government," accessed September 2, 2014
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