Portland Mayoral Candidate Piper Crowell Ends Her Campaign

The Nike executive got a late start and, like other candidates, saw the novel coronavirus overwhelm all other issues.

Piper Crowell (WW Staff)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Portland mayoral candidate Piper Crowell announced today she is ending her campaign to unseat incumbent Mayor Ted Wheeler.

"I entered this race because I have always believed in putting people over politics," Crowell said in a statement. "While I am still called to serve, with Portland facing a pandemic, I have decided to suspend my campaign and focus on COVID-19 response efforts."

Crowell, 34, Nike's director of global digital and innovation policy, entered the race Feb. 12, long after Wheeler and other challengers, including Sarah Iannarone, Ozzie González  and Teressa Raiford, established their campaigns.

A former congressional staffer and lobbyist in Washington, D.C., for the streaming music company Pandora, Crowell brought political experience to the race.

But with candidate forums canceled and the media focusing almost exclusively on the impact of the novel coronavirus, Crowell's campaign struggled to gain traction, although she did garner endorsements from Basic Rights Oregon, the Victory Fund and Women Under 40.

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