Portland Elections Officer Rejects Complaints Against Mayor and Others

The Portland campaign limits conflict with the state constitution’s freedom of speech provision, a matter currently before the Oregon Supreme Court.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler celebrates Gov. Kate Brown's reelection on Nov. 6, 2018. (Justin Katigbak)
By Nigel Jaquiss

The city elections officer Jan. 17 rejected complaints alleging Mayor Ted Wheeler and candidates Jack Kerfoot and Ozzie González violated campaign finance limits approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2018.

The group Honest Elections, which put the limits on the ballot, asked city elections officer Deborah Scroggin to penalize the three candidates for accepting individual contributions in excess of the measure's $500 limit. The Oregonian first reported Scroggin's decision this evening.

In a letter to Honest Elections' Ron Buel (a former editor at WW), Scroggin wrote: "The Auditor's Office intends to uphold the will and intent of the voters in implementing campaign finance restrictions. However, we will not be enforcing, investigating or acting on complaints regarding provisions of the charter that are currently being litigated and have been held unconstitutional."

The Portland campaign limits conflict with the state constitution's freedom of speech provision, a matter currently before the Oregon Supreme Court.

Related: Portland mayor candidate Ozzie Gonzalez calls election complaint against him "meritless."

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