Survey Shows Most Portlanders Don’t Feel Represented by City Council Members

Three of the five incumbents on the Portland City Council want another four years in City Hall—this time as mayor. Commissioners Rene Gonzalez, Mingus Mapps and Carmen Rubio are all vying to oversee a paradigm shift in Portland government, featuring the debut of 12 city councilors and an appointed city administrator.

But any incumbent seeking the mayor’s office must grapple with this unpleasant fact: Less than a quarter of Portlanders feel that someone on City Council represents them and their interests.

Amaury Vogel, executive director of the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center, says that was one of the most remarkable results from a survey of 1,114 Portlanders her firm conducted this past spring. Forty-two percent of respondents said no one represented them, and the remaining 35 percent said they didn’t know. Just 23 percent felt represented on the council.

“It’s really concerning,” Vogel says. “What worries me even more is that so many of the people that are on council are running for mayor.”

No independent polling has been released on the mayor’s race, but donations show Gonzalez and Rubio, along with businessman Keith Wilson, have the strongest bases of support. Gonzalez and Rubio have split the key endorsements, suggesting that barring a ranked-choice upset, Portlanders will once again end up with a leader they don’t feel represents them. (The silent majority of Portlanders with traffic and parking tickets can take some comfort in knowing that Gonzalez and Rubio speak for them.)