{{ image:1 }} It’s primary election day, Oregon! That means it’s almost time for your trusty Mercury news team to kick off its minute-by-minute coverage of election night watch parties, absurd campaign drama, and… RESULTS! What—did you think that, just because there’s a global pandemic and we’ve forgotten the meaning of time, we were going […]
Election 2020
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Mayor Wheeler Fined $500 for Campaign Finance Violations
Wheeler speaking at his October campaign launch. BLAIR STENVICK The City of Portland’s elections office has stuck Mayor Ted Wheeler’s campaign with a $500 fine for bending the city’s campaign finance rules. According to City Elections Officer Deborah Scroggin, Wheeler’s campaign was fined for printing a list of top donors on a recent campaign mailer […]
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The Election Is Tuesday—Don’t Mail Your Ballot, Drop Box It!
Multnomah county Oregon’s primary election is tomorrow (Tuesday, May 19.) It’s now too late to mail in your ballot, so if you’ve yet to vote, you’ll need to bring your ballot to a Multnomah County drop box by 8 pm Tuesday. Some drop boxes are closed this year because of COVID-19, but you can find […]
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Political Committee Supporting Sam Adams Hit With Election Complaint
A section of the Sam Works for Portland flyer that appeared in Portlanders’ mailboxes Friday Dan Meek Several Portland advocates for campaign finance reform have filed a complaint against a political action committee (PAC) supporting former Mayor Sam Adams’ city council run. The complaint accuses the PAC, called “Sam Works for Portland,” of violating local […]
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Election Day Is Coming! Read the Mercury’s Endorsements and Mail Your Ballot This Week!
MAIA BOAKYE Oregon’s primary Election Day—May 19—is just eight days away. If you still need to vote, here’s a refresher on when and how to do it. All Multnomah County voters should have received their ballots by now—so if you don’t have a ballot, but believe you are correctly registered, you should call the county […]
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Despite Misleading Campaign Ad, the Mercury Does Not Endorse Sam Adams
Despite what Facebook campaign ads might suggest, the Mercury has not endorsed Sam Adams for Portland City Council in the May 2020 primary. Readers may know that we posted our endorsements last week—so why the need to now publish an article about who we aren’t endorsing? We can thank Adams’ campaign for that. If you’re […]
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Multnomah County DA Candidates Talk COVID-19 Response, Police Body Cams, and Budgets
Left to right: Mike Schmidt and Ethan Knight Campaign photos When Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill announced he was retiring last year, he opened the door for the first tight DA race the county has seen in years. In the end, that race came down to two candidates: Ethan Knight, an assistant United States […]
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Judge Allows Mayor Wheeler to Continue Spending Large Campaign Funds
Alex Zielinski A Multnomah County judge denied a request Friday to prohibit Mayor Ted Wheeler’s campaign from spending donations that violate the city’s newly-upheld donation limitations. The request for a temporary restraining order on Wheeler spending the funds came from lawyers representing mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone, along with three other campaign finance reform advocates. The […]
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“We’re in a shitstorm”: Q&A With Mayor Wheeler on His First Term and Re-election Campaign
Motoya Nakamura / Multnomah County The Mercury sat down with Mayor Ted Wheeler on February 21 for a lengthy interview on his past three years in office. We had intended on publishing the conversation in mid-March. But then… COVID-19 happened. By the time we could come up for air—after more than a month of nonstop […]
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Portland Will Begin Enforcing Voter-Approved Campaign Contribution Limits
VINNIE NEUBERG The City of Portland will start enforcing a policy that limits campaign donations in city elections—nearly one and a half years after Portland voters approved the rule. On April 23, the Oregon Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s decision that Multnomah County’s policy capping individual donations for county campaigns at $500 was unconstitutional. […]
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The Mercury’s 2020 Primary Election Cheat Sheet
Victor Brave / Getty Images, Bobby Roberts City Council, Position 1: Carmen Rubio City Council, Position 2: Tera Hurst City Council, Position 4: Chloe Eudaly Mayor of Portland: Sarah Iannarone Portland Gas Tax, Measure 26-209: Yes Metro Homeless Services Tax, Measure 26-210: Yes Metro Councilor, District 5: Chris Smith Metro Councilor, District 6: Bob Stacey […]
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It’s the Portland Mercury‘s 2020 Primary Endorsements!
Victor Brave / Getty Images, Bobby Roberts Portland’s May 19 primary election couldn’t come at a weirder time. Thanks to the mid-March arrival of a global pandemic, local campaigns have pivoted to Zoom calls, sidewalk chalk endorsements, and cheery hand washing videos. While it’s thrown a wrench into traditional campaigning, the coronavirus has added fuel […]