IT WAS A BIG WEEK in one of the most contested political battles in Oregon. (No, not the Democratic presidential nominee race, which brought Hillary Clinton to town.) Oregon House Speaker Jeff Merkley and political activist Steve Novick are vying for the chance to take on incumbent Senator Gordon Smith—a vulnerable Republican with a multi-million-dollar […]
2008 Elections
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More Notes from the Rope Line
A Glimpse of Hillaryland
IT’S 8 AM on Saturday morning, April 5, and we’re headed toward Hillsboro. That’s right—8 am, Saturday, Hillsboro. I can’t believe it. My mind is overrun with thoughts and apprehensions about how this ill-conceived Hillary Clinton rally might stack up against Barack Obama’s rock-star blow-through at the Memorial Coliseum last month. But as we pull […]
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In Other News
OFFENDER LIST GROWS There are now 427 people on City Commissioner Randy Leonard’s “Project 57” list. According to the new head of the program, Bill Sinnott, these people are targeted for felony convictions and enforced drug treatment if they’re arrested downtown for things like having a crack pipe containing drug residue. Sinnott, the former boss […]
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Selling Obama Door to Door
Obama Supporters Kick Off Oregon Campaign
IN A RAINBOW of rain gear, hundreds of Barack Obama supporters crammed into a vacant Wild Oats grocery store on SE Division Saturday morning, March 29, to get ready to pound the pavement for their favored presidential candidate. US Representative Earl Blumenauer—in a T-shirt instead of his trademark bowtie—riled up the crowd, there for the […]
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In Other Elections
A City Race Roundup
THE DOZENS of candidates vying for spots on Portland’s city council—as commissioners or the mayor—are doing more than sticking lawn signs all over your neighborhood. In Sam Adams and Sho Dozono’s case, both are furiously raising money in the weeks before they appear—along with 11 others—on the mayoral primary ballot. Since Dozono announced on March […]
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Sho Must Go On
Dozono “Re-Launches” Bid for Mayor
IT WAS OBVIOUS what mayoral can-didate Sho Dozono planned to tell the assembled gaggle of reporters. His campaign manager, daughter, wife, and volunteers were all smiles, bustling about Dozono’s downtown campaign office in the minutes before a scheduled Monday morning, March 24, press conference. Dozono had taken the weekend to decide whether or not to […]
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Notes from the Rope Line
Barack Obama Visits Portland
IT’S EARLY Friday morning, March 21. Long before presidential candidate Barack Obama appears on stage, the jammed Memorial Coliseum where he’s slated to speak is totally electric—buzzing on a high stronger than all the coffee in Portland could possibly provide. And thank god for it. I’ve had about two hours of sleep but the energy […]
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Garren up for a Fight
Ed Garren Scraps for Votes
ED GARREN may be, at most, the current third place candidate in his bid to replace outgoing City Commissioner Erik Sten. Sten’s publicly financed Chief of Staff Jim Middaugh and labor attorney Nick Fish, who beat Sam Adams in the 2004 primary, are the frontrunners. But despite the odds, Garren—a newcomer to Portland and a […]
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Hall Monitor
Hindsight
In February, City Commissioner Sam Adams’ ambitious plan to patch up Portland’s streets got him into an arm-wrestling match with a lobbyist and Mayor Tom Potter, temporarily sinking the proposal. But Adams’ aim to fix the roads is making a comeback—and he’s got a two-prong attack. For starters, he’s asking for $7 million in one-time […]
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Hall Monitor
Payday
February 28 was Phil Busse‘s lucky day. That’s the day that the John Branam campaign for city council cut him a check for $15,000, for Busse’s work as campaign manager. (March 6 and March 14 were also good days for Busse, the Mercury‘s former managing editor. He picked up another $1,000 on each, and says […]
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Polling Weight
Will Dozono Lose Public Financing?
A POLL CONDUCTED last December—one that Sho Dozono got a peek at before he jumped into the city’s public financing program on January 7—is like a can of Diet Pepsi, attorney Christy Monson (representing the city auditor) argued during an all-day hearing in Tualatin on Monday, March 17. Using the empty soda can as a […]
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Here We Poll Again
After two weeks of devoting this space to Sho Dozono’s $27,295 poll problem, I’d hoped to turn my attention to what the current city council has been up to. Not a whole lot, it turns out. Commissioner Sam Adams is bringing a resolution to the council on Wednesday, February 27, buying his staff more time […]