Jules Bailey’s been notching some helpful endorsements lately in his quest to be Portland’s mayor. This month he’s won over the Portland Police Association (though his reticence to commit to doing away with that union’s 48-hour window following police shootings also won him some skeptics), Oregon’s Sierra Club chapter, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. Now, County Chair Deborah Kafoury’s on board.
Kafoury, who works with Bailey on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, says in a press release from the Bailey campaign that his work on housing and homelessness swayed her.
“As County Chair, I’ve been working side by side with Jules. I’ve seen firsthand his leadership to find solutions to our housing crisis and to make Portland affordable,” reads the statement. “As Mayor, he’s pledged to join me in cutting homelessness in half by 2018. I know he’ll succeed because he already has.”
In making the endorsement, Kafoury’s snubbing a former colleague. She served on the county commission when state Treasurer Ted Wheeler was its chair.
Wheeler, by the way, still has lots of love at the county. County commissioners Judy Shiprack and Diane McKeel have both endorsed him for mayor. So have three former mayors: Vera Katz, Tom Potter, and Sam Adams.
Here’s a lot more about the people vying for the mayor’s office.