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Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty came out on top of her two heavily funded opponents last night, and will face one of them in a November runoff.
Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty came out on top of her two heavily funded opponents last night, and will face one of them in a November runoff. Isabella Garcia

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Rain turns to showers on this cloudy Wednesday with a high of 61—but is that sunshine-y sun I see coming up this weekend with highs in the low 70s? Better dry-clean that thong! But before you do... NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• It was PRIMARY ELECTION NIGHT in Oregon yesterday, and the Mercury Election Strike Force was all up in it! Be sure to check our Election Night Live Blog for minute-by-minute reporting on all the results, as well as the election night parties and most importantly of all—THE SNACKS. Here are yesterday's highlights:

The night’s big winners: Democratic nominee for governor, Tina Kotek (who will most likely face Republican Christine Drazan); Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell became Multnomah County’s first woman sheriff; Thuy Tran took the House District 45 seat; Commissioner Susheela Jayapal has won her re-election campaign with a whopping 77 percent of the vote, the well-funded Dan Ryan has held on tight to his city council seat, and Simone Rede is Portland’s next City Auditor.

The most exciting runoff for November will undoubtedly be the Portland City Council race in which incumbent Jo Ann Hardesty will face one of two “pick your poison” contenders: Rene Gonzalez or Vadim Mozyrsky—both heavily endorsed by the police union and wealthy developers, respectively. We'll have more information on who that contender is as more ballots filter in.

Another big election story of note: Secretary of State Shemia Fagan slammed Clackamas County election officials for not turning in ANY election results by 11 pm last night. There had been a barcode snafu leading to officials having to reproduce some ballots, but apparently they turned down any help from the state—which means that some very critical races remain undecided.

Check out more winners, losers, and either winners or losers (we don't know yet) HERE!

IN OTHER LOCAL NEWS:

• The employees of four area Starbucks cafes have overwhelmingly voted to unionize—but they're just getting started, because eight other Portland locations have also filed for union elections. Abe Asher has more!

• Climate activists (which include the students of area schools) will be calling on city leaders to pledge to more urgent action against climate change during a walkout and march scheduled for this Friday. Find out more from out Isabella Garcia.

• He loves her but doesn't want to have sex with her. However, he *does* want to exchange sexy pics and vids with strangers. WHAT. IS. UP. WITH. THAT? Dan Savage explains what is up with that in the latest edition of SAVAGE LOVE!

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• In primary election news across the country, Trump-backed candidates won some, but certainly not all of their races, and the hotly contested Republican Pennsylvania race remains undecided with the Trump-endorsed Mehmet Oz in a dead heat with Dave McCormick with 95 percent of ballots counted. Meanwhile the far-right election denier Doug Mastriano is the GOP's choice to face the Democratic challenger in Pennsylvania in November, and in North Carolina, the scandal-ridden Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn got his ass handed to him, even after Trump implored voters to give him another chance. And Democratic long-shot John Fetterman has won his Pennsylvania Senate primary slot, despite a health scare and wearing a hoodie/shorts combo.

• The remaining 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who were defending a Mariupol steel plant have surrendered to Russian forces—and its unknown if they will be traded and sent home, stand trial for "war crimes," or worse.

• A former Minneapolis cop has plead guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the choking death of George Floyd at the hands of the police.

• GREAT NEWS: In a landmark labor agreement, professional women soccer players will FINALLY be paid the same as their male counterparts, and will also receive shared World Cup prize money.

• Also...

• And finally... can someone please call Encyclopedia Brown?