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The two leading candidates for Portland mayor continue to trade summer endorsements from unions and elected officials, even as Election Day is still four months away.
Portland City Commissioners Rene Gonzalez and Carmen Rubio are facing off to become Portland’s next mayor as the city enters into an entirely new form of government. Other candidates are vying for the city’s top spot, but Rubio and Gonzalez are building leads in fundraising and endorsements.
Last month, the unions representing Portland firefighters and sworn police officers both endorsed Gonzalez, who vows to be tougher on crime than his rivals. Soon after, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek endorsed Rubio.
Earlier this week, Gonzalez announced he’d been endorsed by Multnomah County District Attorney-elect Nathan Vasquez and by the district attorneys in Washington and Clackamas counties, Kevin Barton and John Wentworth.
Rubio answered today, announcing that the city’s heaviest-hitting union, Local 189 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, had endorsed her. She’s also received endorsements from the NW Oregon Labor Council, LiUNA Local 737 and the Portland Association of Teachers.
Whoever is elected mayor will oversee a new form of government, thanks to charter reform that Portland voters approved in November 2022. The mayor will oversee a professional city administrator who, in turn, will supervise operations of all the bureaus. A 12-member, regionally elected City Council will set policy for the city.
A third city commissioner, Mingus Mapps, is also running for mayor but has fallen behind in the money race as his campaign struggles to pay its bills. Other candidates include stripper Liv Osthus, trucking company owner Keith Wilson, and Nancy Congdon, president of Blue Water Wealth, a financial planning company.