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In an 89-year-old diner perched among the firs in Portland’s Northwest Hills, patrons order the same gooey cheeseburgers and blackberry milkshakes served since the Great Depression.
The regulars at Skyline Restaurant probably have strong views about the presidential campaigns.
We don’t know. We didn’t ask them about that.
Instead, for the past week, WW has applied a well-worn chestnut of campaign-season journalism—the diner-stool interview—to a new and hyperlocal purpose. We visited greasy spoons in each of Portland’s freshly created four districts to ask voters what the city’s new form of government can do for them.
There’s a lot to consider. In one week, Portlanders get a ballot unlike any they’ve seen before. They’ll be asked to elect councilors who represent their section of town, rather than the entire city. And they won’t be picking just one—each district will have three winners. To arrive at those three out of the roughly two dozen people running in each district, voters can rank their top six candidates in descending order. They’ll use a similar “ranked choice” method to pick a mayor, who will in turn hire a city administrator to manage the bureaus.
Like we said: it’s a lot. That’s why this past summer, WW launched Ballot Buddy, a section where we took our best stab at explaining how the new voting system works, examined the mood of the public going into that pivotal vote, and interviewed the candidates who qualified for public campaign financing. (Well, most of them. As you’ll see on here, we still have 16 candidates to introduce between now and election day.)
Despite our best efforts to prep Portlanders, our conversations around town suggest many will be surprised when they see those unfamiliar ballots next week. Consider what follows in these pages a cram session—something like CliffsNotes before the big civics exam.
We’ll give you a tour of each of the four districts, including their demographics, the polling results that show how residents’ opinions differ from those in other districts, and those visits to the diners. Then we’ll give you a refresher on how ranked choice voting works, including a guide to the complicated way your vote will be counted.
When mailers arrive at your door touting the endorsements of groups with names like “Portland for All” and “United for Portland,” turn to our rundown to tell them apart. And if you feel like you still need more coaching, we’ve compiled a calendar of educational events and candidate forums happening between now and election day.
Next Wednesday we issue our endorsements. You’ll have plenty to argue about with us then, but this much is indisputable: People only trust elections when they understand them. Now is the time to figure this one out. So take a seat at your favorite hash house, order a cup of coffee and get to know your ballot.
What District 2 Wants - “I believe you should put your money where your priorities are.”
What District 3 Wants - This is a land of optimists.
What District 4 Wants - Many of the voters we spoke to are undecided—and unimpressed.
How Ranked Choice Voting Will Work in Portland
Portland Candidate Forums and Educational Events Between Now and Election Day
This article is part of Willamette Week’s Ballot Buddy, our special 2024 election coverage. Read more Ballot Buddy here.