The Portland Mercury Endorses: Chloe Eudaly for City Commissioner, Position 4

It all comes back to housing.

We were the only newspaper to endorse Reading Frenzy owner and housing advocate Chloe Eudaly in the primary over incumbent Steve Novick, and it was a tough call. But we were persuaded by Eudaly’s dedication to Portland’s escalating housing crisis. As a renter, small-business owner, and co-founder of both the Independent Publishing Resource Center and the Special Education PTA of Portland, Eudaly was easily the most impressive of Novick’s primary opponents. When she took second place for the right to face him in a runoff, Novick strongly implied that he’d prefer to run against Eudaly over third-place finisher Stuart Emmons (who boasted more cash and received an endorsement from the Oregonian).

Novick got his wish, and here we are. We’re still convinced Eudaly is the right person to hold city council accountable to cost-burdened renters in the midst of Portland’s affordable housing emergency. But, as in the primary, the Mercury Endorsement Strike Force was divided on this decision. We like Novick! Having a dad-joking, straight-talking commissioner around can be good in a city that’s often stymied by its own process-based politics. There are valid reasons we’ve endorsed him in the past. And while he’s certainly the safer candidate in this race—low-risk, but potentially low-reward—he mapped out a set of undeniable recent policy wins during our endorsement interview. It also seems Eudaly’s pushed him to come up with concrete suggestions for mitigating the city’s housing issues.

Eudaly has some weak spots. Though she’s clearly done her research on housing, she’ll need to get up to speed quick if she’s elected—even she concedes she almost certainly wouldn’t be given the all-important Portland Housing Bureau as a rookie. And it’s unclear how successfully Eudaly can mesh with the powerbrokers who—like it or not—still help make this city go. She’s garnered support from an array of small-business owners, labor unions, politicos, and artists, but hasn’t seen any interest from more typical check writers.

All that said: If Eudaly isn’t elected, there’s a good chance we’ll get more of the same. That’s more daunting than a learning curve. Vote Eudaly.

Read the rest of our endorsements here.