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The clear lessons from one weekend of Mayoral Madness: The only thing Portland loves more than an underdog is a self-promoter.
The first round of WW's tournament to find a better, less boring mayoral candidate produced a slew of upsets, many of them urged along by timely social-network campaigning by enthusiastic upstarts.
Among the most surprising results: Victoria Taft fans rallied all weekend to surmount Carrie Brownstein's considerable lead. Portlandia's network, IFC, ran a fierce campaign early on in the race, but momentum died down, and Taft managed to topple the sketch comedy queen.
Alleged Christmas tree attempted bomber Mohamed Osman Mohamud jut squeaked in at the last second to defeat Lars Larson by a margin of less than 1 percent. A protest vote, or does Mohamud actually have a legion of grinchy fans out there? We'll find out in round two.
Despite being a last minute replacement, the bacon maple bar came from behind to beat cult chicken chef Nong Poonsukwattana in the Bud Clark regionals. Curiously, the Thai chicken-loving demographic came out in strong support of Pok Pok's Andy Ricker, who took 64.79 percent of the vote against Le Pigeon's Gabriel Rucker.
Columbia Sportswear boss Gert Boyle came from behind for a last-minute upset against Powell's Emily Powell. Could a late inter-office memo tipped her over the line?
Deulling Canzanos, John and Anna, fought tooth and nail to the last minute, with John Canzano overcoming his wife's early lead to take the race by a narrow margin.
In one of the most hotly contended races all weekend, gossip king Byron Beck and PHAME Academy director Stephen Marc Beaudoin went neck-and-neck all weekend. An anonymous donor announced they would donate $500 to PHAME for every round Beaudoin advances in the competition, which may have ultimately given him the edge in a nail-biting finish.
KGW threw its support behind presenter Tracy Barry, but it wasn't enough to overcome the immense popularity of Oregon Zoo's Packy the Elephant, who took over 70 percent of the vote.
And the draw of the Decemberists proved too strong for "Dear Sugar" columnist Cheryl Strayed, who lost to the ivory tinklin' Jenny Conlee-Drizos.
Full results below:
Vera Katz Regional
Victoria Taft (55.26%) def. Carrie Brownstein (44.77%)
Timber Joey (64.1%) def. Blaze the Trail Cat (35.9%)
Mike Rice (68.39%) def. Mike Reese (31.61%)
Mohamed Osman Mohamud (50.43%) def. Lars Larson (49.57%)
Sherri Hiner (50.22%) def. Viva Las Vegas (49.78%)
Timothy Hutton (63.42%) def. Amanda Marshall (36.58%)
Scott Kveton (60.35%) def. Willy Vlautin (39.76%)
Patty (65.36%) def. Duane Sorenson (34.85%)
Bud Clark Regional
A bacon maple bar (51.16%) def. Nong Poonsukwattana (48.84%)
Andy Ricker (64.79%) def. Gabriel Rucker (35.21%)
Paul Bunyan statue (59.9%) def. Joan of Arc statue (40.1%)
Sallie Ford (55.03%) def. Roger the Rabbit (44.97%)
Erin Janssens (76.53%) def. Liv Warfield (23.47%)
Gert Boyle (51.19%) def. Emily Powell (48.81%)
Jon Raymond (56.19% ) def. May Barruel (43.81%)
Reo Varnado (67.45%) def. Daniel Baldwin (32.55%)
Dorothy McCullough Lee Regional
Gus Van Sant (62.35%) def. Rusty Nails (37.65%)
Phil Geffner (68.38%) def. Kim Boyce (31.62%)
China Forbes (60.25%) def. Max Records (39.75%)
âWorkingâ Kirk Reeves (52.62%) def. Todd Haynes (47.38%)
Micaela Capelle (64.26%) def. Ndamukong Suh (35.74%)
John Canzano (51.18%) def. Anna Canzano (48.82%)
Stephen Marc Beaudoin (51.8%) def. Byron Beck (48.2%)
Chuck Palahniuk (63.87%) def. John Schroder (36.13%)
Josiah Failing Regional
Thomas Lauderdale (68.81%) def. Danny Chavez (31.19%)
Courtenay Hameister (53.98%) def. Cool Nutz (46.02%)
Terrell Brandon (73.98%) def. Adam Arnold (26.02%)
Jody Stahancyk (56.06%) def. Rick Emerson (43.94%)
Packy the Elephant (71.31%) vs. Tracy Barry (28.69%)
Jack Bogdanski (68.27%) def. Greg Oden (31.73%)
Jenny Conlee-Drizos (51.88%) def. Cheryl Strayed (48.12%)
Felicia Heaton (67.27%) def. Kathy Foster (32.73%)
Voting in Round Two will begin Wednesday.
WWeek 2015