Incumbent candidates showed strength in major races in Oregon’s midterm elections Tuesday. At the state level, Governor Tina Kotek declared victory over her opponent, Republican Christine Drazan, despite fears of a conservative shakeup in the governor’s office.
Preliminary results in show Portland city councilors are also poised to keep their seats.
A massive blue wave swept the country in the November 3 midterms, with Democratic candidates winning seats in deep red states like South Carolina and Texas. That trend didn’t bypass Oregon.
In Multnomah County, progressives are leading in the chair and District 2 commissioner contests. Meanwhile, six incumbent Portland city councilors—including three democratic socialists—are well on their way to winning reelection to City Council despite big spending efforts meant to shake things up at City Hall.
Multnomah County reported 62 percent voter turnout as of Wednesday, and total turnout is expected to reach around 70 percent once all ballots are processed, elections officials said.
Incumbents on track for reelection to Portland City Council
In City Council District 3, incumbent Steve Novick held a steady lead, with his Council colleagues Tiffany Koyama Lane and Angelita Morillo following behind and nearly tied after 16 rounds of counting in Portland’s ranked choice race. Challenger Kellie Torres, a current city employee, came in at a distant fourth place. Torres was backed by Portland Mayor Keith Wilson. Three candidates each need 25 percent to win in Portland’s ranked choice, multi-winner districts.
In District 4, incumbent Councilor Olivia Clark raked in the largest early lead, followed by current Councilors Mitch Green and Eric Zimmerman. Eli Arnold, a Portland police officer who also ran for Council in 2024, was trailing behind in fourth place, despite running a robust, well-financed campaign.
Tuesday’s election was key in determining the legislative future of City Council, which saw half its seats up for election after just two years under a new form of government. Despite heavy spending to try to thwart progressive candidates, most of them appeared to be prevailing as ballot counting continued.
Portland’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) hosted an election night party at Southeast Portland’s White Owl Social Club. Portland’s DSA chapter endorsed three incumbent City Council members who were up for reelection—Koyama Lane, Morillo, and Green. The chapter also endorsed Nathan Ong Norris, who was vying for the open seat representing District 2 on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners but came up short.
The DSA party was crowded, with a line forming down the street before the doors opened. The mood was upbeat from the start, with candidates predicting a good night ahead for their races.
“I think it’s going to be a total repudiation of the Metro Chamber,” Green told the Mercury about an hour before the county elections office dropped its first preliminary results.
Green said he not only wanted to win, but he wanted to win decisively, showing his detractors that his election in 2024 as a DSA candidate wasn’t a “fluke.” Green faced significant opposition during this election cycle, including through a well-funded campaign of billboard attack ads. District 3’s Koyama Lane and Morillo were also targeted by those favoring more moderate politics, including Mayor Wilson, who endorsed their opponent, Torres.
After the county dropped its initial results at 8 pm, the crowd at White Owl seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Then, the mood turned jubilant.
In an address to the crowd, Green reflected on what he thought the results showed. He said he believed Portland’s “old guard power brokers” saw the City Council results in 2024 as a one-off victory for progressives, which wouldn’t necessarily be repeated in the future.
“It wasn’t a fluke,” Green said. “The question was: Is our politics durable? I think we know it’s durable.”
When she took the mic, Koyama Lane pointed to certain local organizations—namely, the Portland Metro Chamber and Portland Police Association—and urged them to “pay close attention.”
“Portlanders are not going back to how it was,” Koyama Lane said. “Portlanders want councilors who are going to put people before profit. They want their city councilors to care about investing in parks and schools and communities.”
Multnomah County sees political curveball
In the race for county chair, Shannon Singleton pulled ahead by nearly 12 percentage points through two releases of preliminary numbers. Julia Brim-Edwards, once considered a favorite, fell behind after multiple colleagues raised concerns about her leadership, and early supporters rescinded their endorsements in the campaign’s final stretch.
Brim-Edwards and Singleton are both current county commissioners.
Brim-Edwards received significant backing from local business PACs, including Unity PAC—a Metro Chamber-aligned group that spent over $450,000 on this year’s elections, largely in support of Brim-Edwards and Torres, the Council candidate. Through a web of PACs, Brim-Edwards also received support from another Metro Chamber PAC, United for Portland, which contributed nearly every dollar to three separate PACs and invested in a billboard campaign.
But Singleton’s lead late Tuesday appeared to be insurmountable for Brim-Edwards. Singleton, a housing advocate who has a master’s degree in social work, ran as a progressive reformer who wants to mend the county’s social safety net. She led by more than 25,000 votes when the county released its second batch of preliminary results at midnight.
Singleton hosted a party in Northeast Portland, alongside Multnomah County District 2 commissioner candidate Bri Williams, who also led her race after the midnight drop. Behind her by nearly 4,000 votes at the latest count was Serena Cruz, an experienced commissioner who has served on the county board before. Williams is a current county employee and a former Preschool for All staffer with a social work background.
“I want to build a county where every resident regardless of race, ZIP code, or income has the opportunity to live a healthy, stable, and dignified life,” Williams told the Mercury during her campaign.
Your Two Cents comes up short
Measure 26-267, seeking to implement participatory budgeting in Portland, was defeated, with two-thirds of voters saying “no” to the program as of Tuesday night. The measure, dubbed “Your 2 Cents PDX,” proposed allocating a chunk of local funds—the equivalent of 2 percent of the city’s discretionary general fund, or roughly $16 million—to community-led priorities each year.
Measure proponents said the initiative would’ve given Portlanders an opportunity to directly weigh in on city spending. Opponents argued the measure was poorly-defined and convoluted, and raised concerns that it would take away from other local services.
In a statement, the participatory budgeting campaign acknowledged their defeat, but said their efforts “changed the conversation in this city.” Jim Labbe, a co-chief petitioner of the measure and director of Participatory Budgeting Oregon, said even opponents spoke up in support of participatory budgeting as a concept—even while they rejected the specific measure on the ballot.
Participatory budgeting programs have been implemented in cities around the world. While voters rejected Your 2 Cents PDX, measure proponents say they will keep working to bring it to Portland, too.
“We’re committed to keeping that vision alive and building a path forward for participatory budgeting in Portland,” Labbe said.
Multnomah County will publish the next round of results at 6 pm Wednesday.
