Steph Routh was born in Portland, Oregon. She earned a high school diploma from Parkrose High School and a bachelor's degree from Linfield College in 1999. Her career experience includes working in small business, as an adjunct professor, and as an executive director.[1]
General election for Portland City Council District 1
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Candace Avalos in round 13 , Jamie Dunphy in round 16 , and Loretta Smith in round 16 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
Undeclared Write-insUndeclared write-in candidates may advance past the first round in some ranked-choice elections. If the official source reports write-in votes by candidate name, Ballotpedia displays them alongside the ballot-qualified candidates. However, if write-in votes are reported without a name, they will instead be included in the total write-in votes figure in Round 1. Please consult the official elections source for more details about unnamed write-in candidate vote totals past Round 1.
0.6
277
0
There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
Total votes: 42,871
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Endorsements
To view Routh's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Routh in this election.
Steph Routh completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Routh's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
My name is Steph Routh, and I have lived in East Portland the majority of my life. It is the home of my heart. I’ve been a small business owner and a nonprofit leader, a community organizer and a teacher.
I have served for years as a Portland Planning Commissioner and an advocate for abundant housing and a shelter-to-housing continuum. I have worked for safer, better streets for over 20 years. As the former executive director of Oregon Walks, I fought for safe routes to school for families and walkable/rollable neighborhoods where people can age in community and with dignity.
Community Safety - Everyone deserves to feel safe—not only from violence but from the economic, social, and environmental conditions that fuel violence in the first place. Safety is the foundation for a thriving life.
We must invest in evidence-based solutions to reduce gun violence, hate crimes, domestic violence, and dangerous traffic conditions.
Shelter and Housing - We must work in tandem—the city councilors across all four districts, as well as community, county, region, state, federal, and industry partners—to use all the tools in our toolkit. Together we can build shelters with wraparound services that meet our unhoused neighbors’ needs and to achieve our permanent housing goals.
Building Better Government - East Portland has long been left behind in terms of investment and involvement. A better government is one that meaningfully and respectfully engages all of us in decisions.
From day one in office, I will ensure that our transition to a new coordinated bureau system centers accountability and transparency and that East Portlanders can both decide and track how our tax dollars are spent and how we are moving forward on our shared priorities.
This office is primarily responsible for creating the conditions for a connected, meaningful, and thriving life of Portland's residents, primarily via the development and maintenance of physical infrastructure.
William Ury's works have helped shape my thinking on negotiation and collaboration. "Getting to Yes" is probably his most well-known work, but I really appreciated "The Power of a Positive No," as well.
I also think science fiction and futurism are underappreciated genres and cannot recommend "Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements," co-edited by Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown, highly enough.
I think the most important characteristics of an elected official are the capacity to listen, to be curious, to seek the honorable opposition, to treat others with respect, to hold oneself to account, and to motivate others to be part of an effective, thoughtful team in pursuit of real solutions that make people's lives better.
I help build and support amazing teams that punch above our collective weight. I am curious and creative. I also have 20 years of experience as a community organizer and have served as a Planning Commissioner for the past five years.
In this elected office in this transformative moment in our city's history, the core responsibility will be to stand up a new form of Portland city government. Meanwhile, we must focus on solving our city's homelessness crisis.
I doubt myself. In past that has been a struggle, but as I have learned more along the way, self-doubt has become an opportunity to pause and assess a course of action, which has improved outcomes more often than not.
I think Portland City Council's role as an influential voice in state legislative affairs (via the city's government affairs team) does not have a lot of emphasis in public discourse.
I think it's beneficial to have a mix of experience, particularly in this moment in our city's history when we are moving to a new form of government. I believe we want some people who understand how our current system works, but I think it's also beneficial to have some new elected officials who are not tethered to our old system of government.
Oregon Working Families Party
UFCW Local 555
Teamsters Joint Council 37
Sunrise PDX
PCC-FFAP
PROTEC17
Pro Animal Future
Portland: Neighbors Welcome
Portland for All
Portland Firefighters Association Local 43
NW Oregon Labor Council
NALC Local 82
Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate
LiUNA Local 737
Jane Fonda Climate PAC
Ironworkers Local 29
IBEW 48
East County Rising Action Fund
Columbia Pacific Building & Construction Trades Council
Bernie PDX
AFSCME Oregon
APANO Action Fund
Latino Network Action Fund
I believe financial transparency and government accountability are the foundations of trust, which is a critical ingredient for an enduring democracy.
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= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
