Nicholas Hara

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Nicholas Hara

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 21, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Skidmore College, 2011

Personal

Birthplace

Redwood City, Calif.

Profession

Consultant

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Nicholas Hara ran in a special election to the Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners to represent District 2 in Oregon. He lost in the special primary on May 21, 2024.

Hara completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Nicholas Hara was born in Redwood City, California. Hara's career experience includes working as a consultant. He earned a bachelor's degree from Skidmore College in 2011.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Multnomah County, Oregon (2024)

General election

Special general election for Multnomah County Commission District 2

Shannon Singleton defeated Sam Adams in the special general election for Multnomah County Commission District 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shannon Singleton (Nonpartisan)	57.3	55,467
		Sam Adams (Nonpartisan)	42.1	40,802
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	542

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 96,811
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Special nonpartisan primary for Multnomah County Commission District 2

Shannon Singleton and Sam Adams defeated Jessie Burke, Nicholas Hara, and Carlos Jermaine Richard in the special primary for Multnomah County Commission District 2 on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shannon Singleton (Nonpartisan)	46.5	25,394
✔		Sam Adams (Nonpartisan)	23.6	12,917
	Submit photo	Jessie Burke (Nonpartisan)	22.2	12,132
		Nicholas Hara (Nonpartisan)	4.1	2,217
	Submit photo	Carlos Jermaine Richard (Nonpartisan)	3.3	1,808
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	196

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 54,664
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Hara in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Nicholas Hara completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hara's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a fourth generation Japanese-American Portlander. I have worked as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Data Director and prior to that I performed data consultation work with organizations like the United Nations and USAID. My work revolves around good data-informed practices that create measurable impact. I believe well-functioning institutions are the only ones that can achieve their mission. I am passionate about collaborative regional governance and integrating my training as a conflict mediator and facilitator.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Crisis of livability. Livability is the ability to afford an enriching life, but one in three households in Multnomah cannot meet their basic needs. When we address our homeless crisis we must work from an understanding that it is part of a larger issue of livability in our communities. In the next 5 years, the region is set to build about 5000 affordable housing units, but it is estimated we will need 80K. That is not a gap we can close with shelter beds. We are a region in crisis, and our current policies treat downstream livability issues as if they are the source.
• The climate crisis is already here. The deadly heat dome was a prelude to the next several decades. We need to rapidly decarbonize and take seriously a transition away from fossil fuels. Let's invest in long-deferred infrastructure upgrades, favor union labor, and generate thousands of high-wage green industry jobs. We can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and lead the way to a healthy sustainable future.
• We cannot keep electing the same faces that got us here, and expect a different result. It should not take a declaration of emergency to establish effective communication channels. Let's create policies built for outreach not passive feedback loops. Let's prioritize inter and intra-governmental relationship building and preparedness. Our residents deserve to know how their tax dollars are spent, and should have confidence in our leadership.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am interested in regional governance and decision-making, or how to build durable and sustainable solutions. I am interested in open government policies including public records and open data. I am passionate about systemic change and how ideologies of class, race, and gender intersect to hold governments back from being truly equitable and inclusive.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Curiosity. The best people I have known had the confidence to say, "I don't know, but I'll find out." I aspire to always maintain that curiosity.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

There are four critical skills I believe more elected officials should have: conflict resolution, troubleshooting, data literacy, and people management.

Conflict resolution is a wide field of study that encompasses a variety of techniques to identify, describe, and ultimately resolve conflict. Conflict is a natural part of life, and overcoming that to find solutions that work for all parties is at the core of conflict resolution. Many people believe that the best outcome is compromise, but in collaborative arrangements, everyone wins. This kind of thinking is difficult to understand for people who do not understand the structural elements of conflict, and is rarely achieved.
Troubleshooting is the ability to find a root cause of a problem. Few elected officials have a repeatable method for identifying an issue, dissecting its component parts, and targeting the source. The result are policies that tend to treat symptoms but rarely match the cause.
Data literacy is the ability to understand data, and for elected officials it is the ability to identify its use. A common mistake that people make is that being data-driven means being objective. Data is not neutral. Data is not a perfect reflection of reality. People who understand that are able to better utilize data collection and analysis to deliver insightful and impactful policies. They are also wary about data's misuse and constantly on the lookout for how it can be exploited to create false narratives.

Good people management is at the core of being a leader. A good leader gives their teams the trust and resources to effectively execute their job duties. Supported teams have better retention and accomplish their goals more efficiently.

Tell us your favorite joke.

There are two types of people, those that can infer from incomplete data.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Basic financial transparency is a bare minimum standard that governments should uphold. An average resident of the district should be able to understand how the people, measures, and taxes that they voted on are utilized. Government for and by the people cannot be maintained without those basic levels of transparency. When it comes to government accountability, policies that create independent, auditable, and open access by the public into the government's functioning foster trust and fulfill the foundational tenets of American civic life.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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Candidate

Multnomah County Commission District 2

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