Wow19,162 of you were not pleased with the mayoral election. That's the number of Portlanders—7.57 percent of voters—who wrote in their choice for mayor, opting against flawed frontrunners Charlie Hales or Jefferson Smith. The Multnomah County Elections Office does not tally up write-in candidates because of the cost, but elections spokesman Eric Sample looked through a small sample of ballots and says, anecdotally, "The most common name I saw was Eileen Brady and then Scott Fernandez—who I believe was mounting a write-in campaign—and then typically Sam Adams or Carrie Brownstein, the Portlandia person." SARAH MIRK

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For the fifth time ever, Portlanders will vote on whether to fluoridate our municipal water supply, thereby joining much of the rest of the United States in a sensible battle against tooth decay. On Thursday, November 8, the city auditor's office officially blessed a referendum challenging Portland City Council's unanimous approval of fluoridation. The measure will appear on the May 20, 2014, primary election ballot—unless the council decides, for whatever reason, that the expense of a special election held sooner is worth the cost. Fluoride foes turned in more than 40,000 signatures. DENIS C. THERIAULT

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Though the 2012 election was a victory for many progressive causes, one big issue went down in flames in the Portland area: light rail. Clackamas elected two candidates to its county commission who have vowed to fight the extension of the MAX to Milwaukie. Over in Vancouver, Washington, voters rejected a sales tax that would have funded operation of the light rail over the planned Columbia River Crossing bridge. How that project will re-plan its budget is unclear—without light rail, the $3.5 billion freeway expansion won't be able to get federal cash or local support. SM