[EDITOR'S NOTE: Good evening, fellow fingernail chewers! It's ELECTION NIGHT in America and here in Portland, and as always the Mercury Election Strike Force is on the job and ready to give you the information you crave! Stick with us this evening as we report the local/national results you want, while also visiting various candidate parties around town to get a vibe and snack check. That said, here's an important thing to remember: Ballots that are mailed and postmarked by 8 pm tonight will still need to be counted, and it may take days for the final results to be tallied in certain races. However, we should have a pretty good idea where most races stand after the first ballot drop at 8 pm, and many races could be decided as soon as tomorrow. Yours truly (Wm. Steven Humphrey) will be joined by fan favorite Elinor Jones to provide election results and (often sassy-ass) analysis, while Mercurians Courtney Vaughn, Taylor Griggs, Suzette Smith, and freelance photog Sean Bascom will be traversing the town, interviewing candidates while also reviewing and scarfing down various party snacks. In short: IT. WILL. BE. FUN. AND. OCCASIONALLY. NERVE. WRACKING. Scroll down to read our latest dispatches, and LET'S MAKE SOME DEMOCRACY, PORTLAND!]

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UPDATE 10:45 PM

We're wrapping this edition of the election live blog for tonight, but be sure to tune in tomorrow morning for Good Morning, News, where we'll give you the latest updates on all the local and state races. All that said....

At this moment in time, Kamala Harris’ path to victory is getting increasingly narrow. So if we wake up in the morning and the worst has happened, it’s important to remember that we in Portland are incredibly lucky and privileged to live here and to be surrounded by people who care about the welfare of others. It will be up to us to knock the dust off our butts, get back up on our feet, and start protecting those who will be persecuted by a possible Trump administration. And there are a lot: Folks in the LGBTQ+ community, undocumented immigrants, women and their bodily autonomy, and that’s just to name a few.

We can look into the darkness and choose to hide there, or we can do like we did in 2016 and rise up. You can bet that’s what we here at the Mercury will be doing. We consider it a privilege to be able to stand up for the voiceless and fight against the rising tide of hatred. We’ve been doing it for the past 24 years, and there is absolutely no way we’re going to stop now.

But we will need your help, because now there are millions of people across the country who will need your assistance as well. We can do it together, because we’ve done it before and we know what it takes. Cry, scream, yell, and grieve—and then get a good night’s sleep. Because tomorrow, we’re going to need that roaring fire that burns inside each of us to continue protecting those who need it most. We believe in you. You are strong enough to face the road ahead, and we’ll be right there beside you. I'll see you tomorrow.—WSH

UPDATE 10:35 PM

Evening wrap-up: We won’t see additional results for the Portland city races this evening, but we do know that Megan Moyer was elected as the new Multnomah County commissioner for District 1 and Shannon Singleton will represent District 2 on the County Board of Commissioners. Singleton bested former Portland mayor Sam Adams, while Moyer beat Vadim Mozyrsky for her seat.

At the city level, trucking company owner Keith Wilson took a strong lead in the Portland mayor’s race. Tuesday night’s preliminary results show Wilson leads with 63 percent, after 19 rounds of elimination. Current City Commissioner Carmen Rubio is a distant second, picking up 37 percent in the 19th round of tabulation. Tuesday’s early results show Rene Gonzalez, a city commissioner running for mayor, did not advance to the 19th round.

In City Council District 1, Candace Avalos, Loretta Smith and Jamie Dunphy are leading after 17 rounds of tabulation.

In District 2, current City Commissioner Dan Ryan, along with candidates Sameer Kanal and Elana Pirtle-Guiney each picked up 25 percent after 23 rounds of elimination, putting them all in the lead.

District 3 also saw Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo and Steve Novick each pick up 25 percent of the votes after 32 rounds.

Similarly, in District 4, Olivia Clark, Mitch Green, and Eric Zimmerman each pulled ahead with 25 percent of votes counted by 8 pm.

Multnomah County is scheduled to release another update on Portland’s ranked choice voting races at 6 pm Wednesday.—CV

UPDATE 10:07 PM

As more votes roll in for the county races, Shannon Singleton has increased her lead above Sam Adams for the District 2 MultCo County Commissioner seat, sitting at a roughly nine point advantage. Meghan Moyer in District 1 is almost 20 points above Vadim Mozyrsky, and the Oregonian has called the race for her. We won’t be getting more city results tonight, so you’ll have to hold tight on that until tomorrow.

Meanwhile in the state races: Tobias Read, Elizabeth Steiner, and Dan Rayfield are also maintaining their leads for their respective state offices. Read has expanded his and is now beating his Republican opponent by about 12 percent.—TG

UPDATE 10 PM

Back to national stuff: I seriously debated whether or not to participate in this live blog tonight because I knew it would be so stressful, but I also knew I’d be looking at a device anyway, so why not contribute to the noise? And I guess I’m kind of a journalist, but I’m mostly a person and a mom and I’m extremely worried and sad and having a hard time looking at these numbers. As of right now, 633,944 people who live in the same state as me are fine with fascism and women losing bodily autonomy and working people getting their necks stomped on. That’s not fun for any of us.

The House of Representatives is looking to flip blue, though. This is good, in case Harris ekes out a win and Trump tries to steal it. Anyone ready to tuck in for the long haul? Because that might just be what happens. (I am not ready.)—EJ

UPDATE 9:45 PM

As of 9:30 pm, the Oregon Secretary of State page is reporting 48% turnout of all registered voters. Granted, Oregon has an exceptionally high voter registration thanks to our awesome motor voter program, but 48%?! In this economy?!? That number might still change. I hope it does.

And nationally, they’ve called Georgia for Trump. The rest of the battleground states are still too close. This sucks, and I hate it. 

Alcoholic beverages consumed: Four-ish

Cigarettes smoked: One (I quit in 2015. Dumb move.)—EJ

UPDATE 9:32 PM

One of Oregon's biggest races this year is the contest between incumbent Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer and her Democratic challenger, Janelle Bynum, in the state's 5th District. We knew this race would be tight, and that still looks to be true, though Bynum has a 2 percent lead over Chavez-DeRemer at the moment. But with only about 60 percent of the votes counted at this point, there's a lot that's still up in the air, and we may not know the results of this race immediately. With the Republicans just nabbing a majority in the U.S. Senate, it's more important than ever for Democrats to take over as many House seats as possible, so national eyes will be on Oregon to see if Bynum can maintain her lead.—TG

UPDATE 9:30 PM

Results are coming in hot on state races! Republican Steve Bentz is handily carrying Oregon’s 2nd District, while Democrats Suzanne Bonamici, Maxine Dexter, Val Hoyle, Janelle Bynum, and Andrea Salinas are leading in Districts 1, 3, 4 5, and 6, respectively.—EJ

UPDATE 9:28 PM

As far as state races go, here's a quick update. About half of all Oregon ballots have been counted so far—so there's the possibility of change here. Democrat Tobias Read has a pretty nice advantage for Secretary of State, ahead of Republican candidate Dennis Linthicum by about 10 percent. Democrat Elizabeth Steiner has a roughly five point advantage to Republican Brian Boquist for the state treasurer seat, with Mary King (from the Working Families Party), who's sitting at almost six percent of the vote, likely taking some Democratic voters. Dan Rayfield, the Democrat vying for the Oregon AG position, has a roughly six point lead over his Republican opponent, Will Lathrop.—TG

UPDATE 9:25 PM

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson made an appearance at the Portland For All/Working Families shindig. District 3 candidate Chris Flanary is also here. Flanary says even if they don't win, they're not going anywhere. District 3 seats will be up for election again in two years. A sentiment conveyed earlier by a speaker here seems to be the new prevailing mood: "No matter what happens, all we have is each other."

People are now leaving in droves. By far the coolest feature of this election party has been a color changing panther statue.—CV

UPDATE 9:15 PM

Democratic Party of Oregon is holding a big soiree in the basement of the Hilton Hotel. The main affair is happening in a large ballroom that—as seems to be tradition—has very little signal, so of course the hallway is a madhouse of glad handing.

A couple TVs are broadcasting CNN’s presidential coverage—LOOKS BAD—and there are folks watching these in concerned semi-circles.

Inside the ballroom itself, a variety of Democratic politicians are celebrating state wins, like Tobias Read and Maxine Dexter.

Snacks-wise what I’m seeing at this time a few robust veggie platters and charcuterie platters that the chefs of Reddit would respect. There’s a full bar—several full bars—but they’re constrained by drink tickets, not open for the loosening of anyone who made it through the not-insignificant security.

Senator Jeff Merkley takes the stage and is still hopeful that Kamala Harris will win. He’s hopeful Democrats can win big tonight, then get to work on reforming the systems that are set up to benefit the powerful.

He introduces Sen. Ron Wyden, pumping his fists behind him onstage, and we briefly wonder—not for the first time—if someone will ever make a buddy comedy about the two of them.

Wyden delivers remarks that feature the phrase “full court press” repeatedly. Protecting the rights of women—full court press! Civil liberties for all, including LGBTQ+ people—full court press! Getting the people at the top to pay their fair share—full court press! And a full court press to “protect our democracy from those plotting in plain sight to end it.”—SS

UPDATE 9:10 PM

Meanwhile at mayoral candidate Carmen Rubio's party at the Sports Bra, it's a packed house with the crowd elbow to elbow across the room. Rubio is chatting and moving through the room from family to friends to campaign team. Mixed vibes all over. People cheering for Democrat wins in Oregon and Washington, while other barely holding back tears as they watch Trump maintain his lead. Local election energy is high though.

State Rep Bob Nosse introduces Rubio for a speech. She congratulates everyone for engaging with local politics, thanks her family and team, and ends by saying, "We deserve leadership that looks like us, that takes Portland forward for all of us. Let's hang in there for Portland."—SB

UPDATE: 9 PM

Just arrived at the Mercury’s election party at Mississippi Studios. I wouldn’t say the mood is somber, necessarily, but it’s also not exactly celebratory. Many people’s eyes are on screens—their phones and the big one playing MSNBC loudly for all the hear. With so many races and states that are too close to call, will we remain in a state of limbo all night? Only time will tell.—TG

UPDATE 8:55 PM

At the District 1 candidate party at CORE food carts on 82nd Ave, candidate Steph Routh has been buzzing around the party of about 50-75 people. "I'm just glad people are here!" says Routh.

City Council candidates Candace Avalos, Timur Ender, David Linn, Joe Allen, Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang, and their teams all chatting and in good spirits. Former city commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty arrived with former Oregon BOLI commissioner Dan Gardner in support of Avalos.

A documentary film crew—focused on the 2024 elections—was covering the event as well, as community organizers Donovan Scribes and Zoe Pilafas chatted with Routh, Avalos, Hardesty, and others. Pilafas says, "East county matters the most to us. It's the strongest place Portland can focus on equity. It's where you should be if you give a shit."

Candidate Timur Ender remains upbeat: "We ran a great campaign, hustled hard, and the rest is up to the voters."—SEAN BASCOM

UPDATE 8:50 PM

Oregon is voting on a handful of state measure as well, and I’m surprised to see that voters have rejected Measure 117, which would have made ranked choice voting an option statewide. I personally enjoyed ranking my choices when I filled out my ballot, even though the sheer amount of bubbles was initially very overwhelming. People could have gotten used to the bubbles. Babies don’t like bubble baths at first, but they come around. Alas, Oregon voters will never know the bubble lyfe. Voters also rejected Measure 118, which would have granted a universal basic income of $1,600 to every Oregonian, an idea which sounds kinda fun but like... why? However, Measure 115 did pass, which means lawmakers can now impeach other lawmakers. Yay! I love an impeachment. So chic. Very West Wing-esque.—EJ

UPDATE 8:30 PM

There are two Multnomah County Commissioner seats up for grabs, and here are the latest preliminary numbers: For the District 1 seat, Meghan Moyer has a substantial lead (57% so far) over perennial candidate Vadim Mozyrsky (at 42%)—but who knows? Maybe for Vadim, the 37th time running for office will be the charm.

Meanwhile in the District 2 race, Shannon Singleton holds a hilarious lead (53%) over former mayor Sam Adams, who I'm surprised was likable enough to garner 46%. Yes, I'm a bitch, deal with it.—WSH

It appears Portland is on the verge of electing its third consecutive guy who looks like Charlie Hales as its next mayor. (Charlie Hales began the streak in 2012). https://t.co/eM79arkSmH

— Señor Eder Campuzano 🇲🇽 (@edercampuzano) November 6, 2024

UPDATE 8:26 PM

In District 4, early results show Olivia Clark in the lead, followed by close races among Mitch Green, Eric Zimmerman, and Eli Arnold. Back on scene at the Portland For All/Working Families Party gathering, candidates have disappeared, at least for now. Supporters and campaign volunteers are loading up to-go boxes of food. Some are nervously hovered around a TV showing presidential race results.—CV

UPDATE 8:23 PM

Meanwhile in national news: I got a little gloomy in my last post, but now that polls have closed on the west coast, those blue and red maps are looking a lot less terrifying. Oregon is called for Harris, as is California. Phew. In other races, Democrat Sarah McBride is projected to win an open seat in Delaware to become the first trans person in Congress, and Democrat Andy Kim won the New Jersey senate seat vacated by the slick-palmed Bob Menendez, which makes Kim the first Korean-American in the Senate. Here in Oregon, Janelle Bynum is leading incumbent Republican Lori Chavez-DeReremer by a paltry 2%, but that race is nowhere near called yet. It’s a real mixed bag tonight, folks.

My cat Sprinkles seems to have picked up on my anxiety and is sitting in his emotional support slipper. —EJ

UPDATE 8:20 PM

Early results are rolling in. In District 1, Candace Avalos is gaining notable momentum as the top vote getter. In District 3, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo and Steve Novick appear to be leading. Raucous applause and cheering rang out at The Get Down when the early results for District 3 were announced.—CV

UPDATE 8:15 PM

Eric Zimmerman (D4) and Sam Adams (MultCo D2) arew looking over preliminary results at T.C. O’Leary’s on Alberta. No definitive mood shift as the results roll in. People struggling to read the ranked choice results.

I would also like to note that there’s a six-piece Irish band playing at T.C. O’Leary’s, seemingly unaffiliated with the campaigns hosting parties here. Hearing them play has been helpful to my nervous system, but makes it hard for the campaigns to follow results on TV. The Adams and Zimmerman campaigns have moved into another room in the bar to watch the TVs. 

Seems like I should’ve stayed at the Wilson campaign party! Early results show him with a major lead. Unclear how things will shift, but I bet the mood is even better over there now than it was a half hour ago. —TG

UPDATE 8:10 PM

Okay, the first results of the evening are in, and as a reminder, THESE ARE VERY PRELIMINARY, so chill out y’all! Let’s start with the mayoral race. So far mayoral candidate KEITH WILSON has a commanding lead (63%) over the rest of the pack with CARMEN RUBIO coming in second with 37%. Rene Gonzalez is not even on the board. 

And here are the preliminary 8 pm results for the City Council races (reminder that each district is electing three people):

DISTRICT 1: Candace Avalos is currently tied at 25% with Loretta Smith, and Jamie Dunphy pulling up the rear in third with 21%.

DISTRICT 2: It’s currently a three-way tie in District 2 between current commissioner Dan Ryan, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, and Sameer Kanal.

DISTRICT 3: Another three-way tie in D3 between Angelita Morillo, Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Steve Novick. 

DISTRICT 4: Olivia Clark, Mitch Green, and Eric Zimmerman have 25% each in their battle to represent the West Hills, downtown, and Sellwood.

Stand by for state results next!—WSH

UPDATE 7:53 PM

I keep feeling all sorts of hope for this country, but Texas was AWFULLY QUICK to determine that Ted Cruz won his reelection to the US Senate. Florida handily approved a statewide ban on abortion after six weeks (which, as a reminder, is not six weeks of being aware of a pregnancy, but six weeks after the first day of a person’s last period, which is often before they even know they are pregnant, and is functionally a total ban on abortion). And Iowa, which gave all of us libs a jolt of unexpected happiness when pollster Ann Selzer said it suddenly leaned Harris, has gone to Trump. Polls are still open on the West Coast, but I am prematurely not okay. Perhaps another vodka tonic will fix things? I’m gonna try. —ELINOR JONES

UPDATE 7:50 PM

There are plenty of election night parties this evening, and while it's equally exciting and nerve wracking, it's important to remember that the local City Council and mayoral race results tonight will be VERY preliminary. Stay patient! A large group is partying at The Get Down, where Portland For All and Oregon Working Families Party are co-hosting an event for several progressive candidates. It's a lively scene. District 3 City Council candidate Angelita Morillo is mingling. Khanh Pham is making her way around the room. District 2 candidate Michelle DePass is also here. A few speakers from each org are talking about the importance of what Portland is doing to transform the city's local government. The bar is open and the excitement is palpable.—COURTNEY VAUGHN

UPDATE 7:45 PM

Hey everybody! Your old pal Steve Humphrey here, holding down mission control in the Mercury’s election night live blog. THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR TONIGHT: Ranked choice voting is taking center stage in this year’s election, particularly in the races for City Council, mayor, and city auditor. (Simone Rede was the only person running for auditor this time around, so I guess she’s RANKED #1!! 🎉) Thanks to a rather lackluster lineup of mayoral candidates (I’m sorry, but it’s true), I bet it was difficult for people to rank more than three—but at least we all know who we shouldn’t have ranked, right? Stay tuned for the first ballot results drop of the night, coming up in under 15 minutes.—WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

UPDATE: 7:40 PM

The party for mayoral candidate Liv Østhus, AKA Viva Las Vegas, is at Bunk Bar in Southeast Industrial. We’re here just as it’s opening, but both Østhus and her campaign manager try to give me snacks and drinks. The cocktails are pretty enticing, but we have much left to do.The Mercury described Østhus as a political newcomer that nevertheless ran a serious campaign. We ask her if this run signals her intention to join politics permanently—regardless of tonight’s results. She describes the campaign as another step in her arts career and practice, which has felt like a series of vocations, as much as she moved between different facets of her life—stripping, musicianship, writing, and even being a mother. “I felt called to it,” Østhus says, of local politics. “People are craving new types of leaders, visionary ones. Look at this campaign, run with entirely volunteer support until a few weeks ago. I ran against three sitting commissioners! Ultimately, it’s harder to resist a calling than to follow it.” At this point, a crew of supporters from Mary’s—the downtown strip club where Østhus works—arrives, and the room’s energy skyrockets. We part ways with Østhus, and she tries to feed us once more before we leave.—SUZETTE SMITH

UPDATE: 7:30 PM

Mayoral candidate Keith Wilson is having his election party upstairs at Old Town Brewing. Wilson has run a very competitive campaign against some big names and the crowd here has a lot of energy. He told me part of the fun is that we don’t know what we’ll find out tonight. “We’re just here to celebrate. We ran a great campaign with a lot of great people,” Wilson said. —TAYLOR GRIGGS

UPDATE: 7:20 PM

A couple dozen people are currently at Old Town Brewing on NE MLK for District 2 city council candidate Nat West’s party. People are eating pizza and drinking beer, as to be expected at this establishment. Overheard West make a crack to former Mercury/current OPB reporter Alex Zielinski about the infamous “bowls of popcorn” from Knute Buehler’s election party when he ran for governor. We’ve got a Mercury liveblog reader, folks! West’s energy is upbeat. “I did what I wanted to do,” he says. “I got at least two first-place votes.” (He pointed to himself and his wife.) Everyone is seemingly avoiding paying too much attention to the multiple TV screens in the building, broadcasting presidential race results. —TAYLOR GRIGGS

UPDATE: 7:15 PM

Hey, everybody! I’m Elinor Jones. Usually they keep me over in the humor area, away from real news, so my inclusion in tonight’s lineup of writers really underscores the YIKES! of it all. Some results for the Presidential election are already up, and it looks scary, because the red states seem to count the fastest; it will be a while before we have good information on that front, and if you ask if that will stop me from refreshing every news site every minute, the answer is no! 

I’ll mostly be keeping eyes on the results coming out of Oregon’s 5th Congressional District (which encompasses the area directly to the southeast of Portland, including parts of Clackamas, Multnomah, Linn, and Marion counties) where Democrat Janelle Bynum is hoping to unseat Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Chavez-DeRemer is a mega MAGA Republican. Bynum is a sitting state Representative, having beat this very same Chavez-DeRemer twice for that seat. 

I was first introduced to Bynum when she was a guest on my favorite podcast Lovett or Leave It and she was delightful AND hilarious—a winning combo if you ask me! If you need 14 minutes of entertainment to kill time before the big results start pouring in, here's a video I highly recommend.—ELINOR JONES