Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith Receives $1,000 Campaign Donation and Endorsement from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden

Smith served as a Wyden staffer. The senator has endorsed her candidacy.

Sen. Ron Wyden, Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith, and Sen. Jeff Merkley at a rally to save Obamacare on Jan. 15, 2017. (Joe Riedl)
By Rachel Monahan

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) is putting a chunk of money—and his endorsement—into a Portland City Council race.

Wyden has made a $1,000 campaign donation to Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith through his leadership political-action committee. And while it's hasn't been announced officially, Wyden also endorses Smith's candidacy, says his spokesman Hank Stern.

The $1,000 donation came on January 31, in the month after Smith officially filed to run for Portland City Council. She has raised a significant sum of money—$75,502—in the first six weeks of 2018.

Smith, a former staffer for Wyden, has previously received donations from Wyden's PAC, called Holding onto Oregon Priorities. The PAC gave her another $1,000 in 2016, and the same amount in 2017.

No other donations from Holding onto Oregon Priorities to local candidates are recorded in the last year.

Wyden's former chief of staff, Joshua Kardon, also contributed $5,000 to Smith, on Jan. 22.

Smith is running against NAACP of Portland president Jo Ann Hardesty, mayoral staffer Andrea Valderrama and architect Stuart Emmons, among others.

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