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A stampede of more than 40 candidates have already filed paperwork to run for the 12 new Portland City Council seats and one mayoral position next year.
That’s understandable in some ways, because the city’s new form of government, with four three-member districts, offers new opportunities, as well as a redesigned mayor’s job.
Meanwhile, at Multnomah County, where four seats are on the ballot, just three candidates have filed to run. That’s even though the county is awash in cash flowing from the Preschool for All and Metro homeless services measures.
Filings as of the last business day of 2023 show that two candidates—Brian Knotts, a consultant, and Timothy Youker, currently unemployed—have filed to run for the District 4 (east Multnomah County) seat being vacated by County Commissioner Lori Stegmann, who is term-limited from running again. Neither candidate has yet raised any money. A third potential candidate, Gresham City Councilor Vince Dixon-Jones, is weighing a bid.
In the District 1 seat (westside and downtown) being vacated by Commissioner Sharon Meieran (also term-limited), Meghan Moyer has filed to run and already raised a little more than $5,000. Moyer, a former lobbyist for both Service Employees International Union and Portland Community College, currently works as the public policy director for Disability Rights Oregon. She’s also got a background in construction, having worked as a project manager for Skanska and run her own contracting firm.
Another candidate reportedly interested in Meieran’s seat is Vadim Mozyrsky, who ran unsuccesfully for Portland City Council in 2022. Mozyrsky told WW in text message he will announce his plans in the new year.
Meanwhile, nobody has filed for the District 2 seat (Northeast Portland) that former Commissioner Susheela Jayapal vacated to run for Congress, although The Oregonian reported Dec. 29 that Jessie Burke, an owner of the Society Hotels in Old Town Portland and Bingen, Wash., will soon enter the race and that former Mayor Sam Adams and Shannon Singleton, a onetime director of the Multnomah County Joint Office of Homeless Services, are weighing runs.
The other seat on next year’s ballot, District 3 (Southeast Portland), currently belongs to Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards, who has not yet filed for reelection but is likely do so soon.
The filing deadline is March 12.