Timur Ender

Timur Ender ran for election to the Portland City Council to represent District 1 in Oregon. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

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

Biography

Timur Ender was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University in 2011 and a law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2015. His career experience includes working as a project manager.^[1]

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Portland City Council District 1

Select round:

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.

	Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
	Loretta Smith	13.0	5,586	0	Won (16)
	Jamie Dunphy	11.8	5,064	0	Won (16)
Submit photo	Candace Avalos	19.4	8,297	0	Won (13)
Submit photo	Terrence Hayes	9.3	3,975	0	15
Submit photo	Noah Ernst	9.5	4,052	0	14
	Steph Routh	9.1	3,894	0	12
	Timur Ender	8.3	3,550	0	11
	Doug Clove	4.0	1,698	0	10
	Peggy Sue Owens	3.0	1,266	0	9
Submit photo	David Linn	2.6	1,111	0	8
Submit photo	Joe Allen	2.3	978	0	7
Submit photo	Michael Sands	2.2	952	0	6
	Deian Salazar	1.7	720	0	5
Submit photo	Cayle Tern	1.7	711	0	4
Submit photo	Thomas Shervey	0.9	385	0	3
	Joe Furi	0.8	355	0	2
	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 Ender's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ender in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

Timur Ender completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ender'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 parent of three young kids, including a child in the foster care system. As a project manager, I managed $30 million of infrastructure budgets to meet the needs of East Portland. I've also had the privilege of standing up programs such as bike share, fixed speed safety cameras, and the Fixing Our Streets program.

As a parent in the David Douglas School District, I've coached youth soccer. As a legal aid attorney, I have helped ensure vulnerable people have had access to legal services.

The son of Turkish immigrants, I am the first in my family to be born in the U.S. I'm proud of East Portland's diversity and will work to ensure everyone in our community is safe and has the ability to thrive.

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?

Helping Our Homeless Neighbors Get Back on Their Feet We must do more to prevent people from becoming homeless and help those living on our streets get their lives back together. That includes more emergency rental assistance for families who need temporary housing assistance. Housing with wraparound services is the most humane and cost-effective approach to address homelessness. I will elevate policies that prioritize a housing-first approach, while also working to address the root causes of homelessness.
Creating Safe Communities in East Portland Across Oregon, the most well-resourced neighborhoods are the safest. Timur is committed to policies that address root causes, interrupt cycles of violence, and provide neighborhoods with the resources necessary to improve safety and reduce incidents of violence. That includes community initiatives to prevent gun violence, place-based interventions (such as street lighting), and better access to mental health and addiction treatment services. I will advocate for building out our public safety continuum through programs such as Portland Street Response.
Creating Health Equity for East Portland It is unacceptable that East Portlanders have a life expectancy of 10 years lower than Portlanders living west of I-205. Timur is committed to policies and programs that reduce health disparities and increase life expectancy in East Portland. No matter what zip code you live in, everyone deserves access to healthy food, safe neighborhoods, and clean air.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am most passionate about policies that affect public health, reduce health disparities, and extend life expectancy.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity is a key trait for public office. People are entrusting elected officials with tax dollars. The people leading these bureaucracies must be transparent, accountable, speak confidently and honestly with their community. If trust is diminished, it becomes very hard for an elected official to govern effectively.

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

I am a servant leader. I will always put my community first. I am also someone who works to create spaces for community members to share their ideas and allows space and time to listen.

What legacy would you like to leave?

At the end of my service on city council, I will define success as "have we reduced disparities in health outcomes between people living west and east of 82nd Avenue?" I will define success as extending East Portland's life expectancy.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I was in 7th grade when 9/11 happened. I remember watching the events unfold on TV in class.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was a soccer referee which I loved and did for 10 years

What is your favorite book? Why?

Ender's game

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

I do think prior government experience is a plus but it is not the only life experience that would make someone successful on city council. I am excited to have a city council where candidates bring a variety of life experiences and perspectives to this work.

Some perspectives that I bring is as someone who:
-who has experience aligning infrastructure funding to meet the needs of East Portland.
- has managed scope, schedule, budget, and risk for multimillion dollar budgets and stood up city programs such as fixed speed safety cameras, bike share, and the fixing our streets program.
- is a former public sector union member
-in a district of 100 languages represented, speaks a language other than English at home (Turkish)
-is a parent of 3 young kids, including a child in the foster care system
-first in my family to be born in the U.S.
-resident in a neighborhood with high rates of gun violence, understand the urgency for comprehensive gun violence prevention at the local level. (Hazelwood)
-have served as a volunteer legal aid attorney for women fleeing gender-based and political violence

-in a district with a life expectancy 10 years less than Portlanders living west of 82nd Ave., am committed to reducing health disparities and extending East Portland’s life expectancy.

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

The skills most relevant for this position include budgeting, human resources, understanding of public policy.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

East County Rising

APANO
Next Up
Working Families Party
Sierra Club
Sunrise PDX
Bernie PDX
Street Trust Action Fund
Protec17
Portland For All

pro Animal Future

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I am obviously a supporter of transparency of public dollars.

I am also a strong proponent of participatory budgeting. As an elected official, I never want to have to guess what my community needs. Community based planning and budgeting efforts help articulate and prioritize the types of investments residents desire. It is then my job to fight for those investments to ensure our community has the resources it needs to thrive.

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.

External links

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Candidate

Portland City Council District 1

Personal

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 11, 2024

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 11, 2024

[1]

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Timur Ender

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Portland City Council District 1

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2026 Elections

2025 Elections

Election analysis

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