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Incumbent City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and challenger Mingus Mapps are pitching their candidacies to different audiences, and nowhere is the contrast more evident than in their list of contributors.
Eudaly ran in 2016 on a platform of trying to make conditions better for renters squeezed by Portland's red-hot housing market. Once elected, she championed rule changes that required landlords to pay tenants considerable compensation for evicting them; passed the FAIR ordinance, which relaxed tenant screening requirements; passed a rental housing registry tax; and lobbied the Oregon Legislature to pass a rent control law.
All of those policy changes put her in conflict with real estate and development interests, which have flocked to support Mapps.
On Oct. 23, Eudaly posted a list of 75 contributors to Mapps who work either in real estate or property development.
"My opponent is fueled by a grudge, with no legitimate platform, and backed by some of THE WORST operators in our city," Eudaly wrote in a comment accompanying the list, which was in the form a spreadsheet compiled by a supporter. "Some of the biggest gentrifiers in the city are backing my opponent—I would have to wonder what I was doing wrong if they were supporting me."
Eudaly took the list down but not before people took screenshots.
The post harked back to a time early in her tenure when Eudaly battled with the media and members of the public about her personal Facebook page, which sometimes veered into city issues and punished people who disagreed with her.
Mapps disapproved of Eudaly singling out some of his supporters.
"This action and list made me sad that we have come to calling out our fellow citizens like this," he said in a statement. "When I see the 75 names of Portlanders on a list, I see people who love their city from all walks of life. I see the mosaic that is Portland—the same mosaic I have seen in the 95 neighborhoods and business districts I've seen throughout the campaign. I look forward to serving all of Portland and to a City Hall that includes all voices."
Eudaly made no apology for posting the list or her characterization of those on it.
"Wealthy developers, realtors, and landlords are funding and endorsing my opponent's campaign, this is all public information," she said in a statement.
"Some of these same individuals and entities have contributed to our housing crisis and fought every effort to advance tenant protections at the local and state level. It should come as no surprise that the landlord lobby is mobilizing to try to unseat the strongest tenant advocate Portland has had in decades, while I'm endorsed and backed by housing advocates."