I caught two city council candidates–yep, people are still running for city council–at this weekend’s Division/Clinton Street Fair and parade.
I tagged along with Amanda Fritz, hoping to catch a glimpse of candidate-voter interactions. But in a parade setting, not surprisingly, those are limited mostly to Fritz waving and shouting “hello!” “good morning!” and “I’m running for city council!” and voters along the sidewalk waving back and saying things like “Amanda!” and “I’ll vote for you if you have candy!” (To that voter, Fritz tried to quickly explain that as a publicly financed candidate, she couldn’t toss candy like the motorcyclists in front of us, but the pace of the parade may have drowned out her response.)
Check out Amanda’s threads (she was “feeling pink today,” she told me) and unique campaign sign:
Charles Lewis was also in Saturday’s parade. I caught up with him at the end of the route:
Both candidates have been laying fairly low this summer. Lewis and his wife just welcomed a baby girl earlier this summer, and Fritz took a bit of time off for her family after the election. But the pair seem to be diving back into campaign mode, with the election just 100 days away. Already, I’ve noticed announcements of “meet and greet” events with Fritz in spots like Hayden Island, and after the parade yesterday she jetted off to a neighborhood picnic and to do canvassing. Lewis has been more mum on his calendar, but I hope to go door knocking with him soon.
Why is this posted?
Was something happening?
Is there an issue here?
Smacks tremendously of filler.
I’m not sure how to rate this, so,
Not funny?
Next!
Amanda Fritz isn’t just pink, from the back she looks like an old-timey Suffragette. Votes for Women!
Amanda Fritz looks a lot like my mom. She has my vote!
Thank you, ROM. I hope your mother would approve of your vote – this mom certainly appreciates it 🙂
As for taking time off to be with my family, Amy … I’ve been working more than 50 hours on the campaign every week since the primary. Summaries of some of the events I’ve participated in are on my campaign blog, and the Supporters page shows new endorsements I’ve worked hard to earn. Volunteers have been making phone calls since early June, and we’ve knocked on doors in North, mid NE, outer NE, and inner SE Portland. More neighborhood events are scheduled throughout the summer. Fortunately my kids and spouse are super-supportive, and getting used to me spending most of my time away from home.
Emphasis on the “a bit”—when we chatted post-election, there was talk of a couple of graduations, and a trip to Ashland with your daughter.
Oh, right, I remember that conversation – seems like a long time ago. Those “breaks” didn’t work out quite as I’d hoped. Never having been in a runoff election before, I didn’t know what to expect, and as it turns out there’s been almost no down time. I did 6 campaign events the weekend my daughter graduated, for example.
My campaign is funded by the citizens of Portland, and I want all to know I’m working as hard as I can to make good use of both time and money.
Aha. Thanks for the clarification!