For Many Candidates, Last Week’s Election Illustrated the Triumph of Hope Over Experience

Chris Henry tried something new last week, but the results were the same.

Henry, a truck driver turned gig worker, secured $38,709 in public campaign funding (“Funny Money,” WW, Oct. 23) but still lost his 11th consecutive election. Having previously come up short in races for U.S. Senate, Congress (twice), governor (twice), state treasurer (twice), attorney general, Oregon labor commissioner and state representative, Henry last week lost his race for City Council District 4.

Henry’s frequent candidacies in state races help the Pacific Green and Progressive parties meet legal requirements for viability. He is a fringe candidate, but more substantial candidates also lose frequently. Jamie McLeod-Skinner, a lawyer from Terrebonne, first lost in the 2018 2nd Congressional District race, then in the 2020 secretary of state’s race and, in 2022 and 2024, in the 5th Congressional District (to be fair, she defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader in the 2022 Democratic primary before losing in the general election). That’s a total of four campaigns for office without winning one.

Losing big races isn’t always a career killer. Former Gov. Ted Kulongoski may be the best example. After starting strong in the Legislature in the 1970s, he got shellacked in races for U.S. Senate (1980) and governor (1982), but after a decade out of politics, the Democrat rebounded to win races for attorney general, the Oregon Supreme Court, and Oregon governor—twice.

Jake Weigler, a veteran political consultant who advised six candidates in last week’s Portland City Council races, says for some candidates, even one loss can be devastating. Others, like former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith, a onetime Weigler client, take it in stride. “Loretta just dusts herself off and gets back in the game,” Weigler says.

Here are four other candidates on last week’s ballot who have experienced losing streaks, and two who’ve gotten off the schneid.

Mike Erickson

Losses: 6

The owner of a successful Tigard logistics company, Erickson continued last week to live up to his campaign motto, “Not a politician.” It’s not for lack of trying: After losing legislative races in 1988 and 1992 (the latter to future Gov. Kate Brown), the Republican set his sights on Congress and lost in 2006 and 2008 in the 5th Congressional District and then, in 2022, moved over to Oregon’s new 6th District—but with the same result. Last week, 6th District Congresswoman Andrea Salinas topped him by 6.3%, double the margin in 2022.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Losses: 3

In 2016, Chavez-DeRemer, the former mayor of Happy Valley, lost one of the most expensive, closest legislative races of that cycle to Janelle Bynum, a Democratic newcomer. In 2018, Bynum beat her again, by a wider margin. Chavez-DeRemer then came roaring back in 2022, knocking off McLeod-Skinner to give Republicans control of the 5th Congressional District for the first time in nearly 20 years. Despite the fact that Chavez-DeRemer tacked hard to the middle and incumbents rarely lose Oregon congressional seats, she again lost last week to her nemesis, Bynum.

Vadim Mozyrsky and Sam Adams

Losses: 2 each

Mozyrsky and Adams warmed the hearts of the business community in recent election cycles but lost nonetheless. Adams won a City Council seat in 2004 and the mayor’s race in 2008, but after the Beau Breedlove scandal sent him off into the wilderness, he returned to place third in a 2020 Portland City Council race behind Mingus Mapps and Chloe Eudaly and finish far behind Shannon Singleton in this year’s general election in Multnomah County Commissioner District 2. Mozyrsky, a Social Security judge, came in third behind Rene Gonzalez and JoAnn Hardesty in a 2022 City Council race and this year lost to Meghan Moyer in Multnomah County Commissioner District 1. Both men plan to stay involved. Adams says he wants to see “how I can help advocate for needed local policy and community changes.” Mozyrsky plans to help “bring common-sense solutions to the challenges facing our local government.”

Kevin Mannix

Losses: 5

After a decade in the Legislature, where he represented Salem as a Democrat, Mannix, a lawyer perhaps best known as the author of Measure 11, the mandatory minimum sentencing initiative voters approved in 1994, became a Republican and embarked on an Erickson-like losing streak: He twice lost attorney general’s races (1996, 2000), lost two governor’s races (2002, 2006), and then lost in the 2008 5th Congressional District primary to…Mike Erickson, who out-fundraised him 8 to 1. Mannix then recalibrated and won a Salem House seat in 2022 and 2024. “Earlier losses have taught me to stick to my legislative area—and raise the necessary funds!” Mannix says.

Loretta Smith

Losses: 3

After a long career working for U.S. Sen Ron Wyden, Smith won Multnomah County commissioner contests in 2010 (when she overcame a primary defeat to beat Karol Collymore in the general election) and 2014. Then, her fortunes changed. In 2018, Smith lost to JoAnn Hardesty in a Portland City Council race. In 2020, she lost a race for a different council seat to Dan Ryan, and in 2022, she lost in the 6th Congressional District primary. But the expanded Portland City Council gave her a new opportunity this year. Despite entering the race late, Smith scored the second-most votes among 16 candidates in District 1. “I have never allowed failures to be an excuse to abandon my dreams, particularly when those intentions focus on important issues impacting our communities,” Smith says. “Perseverance, resilience, and unwavering commitment to community are essential for East Portland’s progress.”