Mayor Charlie Hales Asked Marissa Madrigal to Run for his Job

By Beth Slovic

Mayor Charlie Hales isn't running for reelection. But he's been recruiting an opponent for the current mayoral frontrunner, Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler.

WW has learned that last weekend, Hales spoke with Multnomah County Chief Operating Officer Marissa Madrigal, who briefly ran the county in 2013, and encouraged her to run against Wheeler.

Madrigal served as interim county chair after Jeff Cogen's 2013 resignation and had earlier considered running next year for city commissioner.

She has not returned WW's messages seeking comment.

Hales' statement on Monday declaring he wouldn't seek reelection essentially doubled as a recruiting pitch.

"The filing deadline is still over four months away, and I hope and expect that several qualified candidates will seek the office of Mayor," Hales said in a statement. "There are some dynamic new leaders in our community, and I'm excited to see who steps up."

Madrigal, who recently gave a moving speech at Street Roots' annual breakfast forum, is many things that Hales is not—young, female and Latina among them.

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