For those with their eye on this year’s city council races, January
31 has been circled in red—it’s the deadline for candidates who
must get enough $5 contributions to secure public financing. As
we went to press on January 29, the five participating candidates
aiming for Commissioner Sam Adams’ vacated seat looked likely to
qualify (one candidate, Amanda Fritz, has already made the cut,
while a sixth candidate in that race, Mike Fahey, isn’t
participating and has been laying low.)
The public cash puts candidates on equal funding footing, turning
this open seat race into a true contest of ideas. Compare that to the
last open city races, in 2004, where money was a big focus: Jim
Francesconi raised over a million bucks in his mayoral bid, while
Tom Potter famously capped his contributions and raised less
than a quarter of that. For that year’s council race, Adams and Nick
Fish were both busy raising around $600,000 each. Stories about
fundraising were given equal billing against stories about where,
politically, the candidates stood.
That won’t be the case this time. These candidates will be evaluated
based on what they’d bring to the city council, not on who’s paying
their way. (Speaking of which: Check out portlandmercury.com/2008, where
candidates are answering questions about the issues almost every
day.)
But this publicly financed, history-making race isn’t what has
everyone’s attention. Two campaign newbies have taken over the
spotlight in the past few weeks. On January 7, Sho Dozono launched a contribution drive in his quest to become mayor. And Jim
Middaugh—Commissioner Erik Sten’s chief of
staff—jumped in on January 14, hoping to win his boss’ newly
vacated seat. Both aimed for public financing, a seemingly Sisyphean
task given the truncated timeline.
However, both blew away all previous records. Dozono turned
in 2,400 signatures on January 24, and Middaugh turned in 1,682 on
January 28—hundreds more than either candidate needed, gathered
at a pace of over 120 contributions a day. (Middaugh’s success in
particular might keep other potential candidates out of that
race—the remarkable accomplishment vaults him into a tight
competition with local attorney Nick Fish.)
The question for both of those candidates, however, is what
happens next. Faced with a tangible task and deadline—go out
and collect $5 from people, now—volunteers are sharply
focused. It’s unclear, however, if that energy is sustainable enough to
propel Dozono and Middaugh—two novice candidates facing privately
financed candidates who’ve run before—through May’s primary. Stay
tuned.