Leftists Want to Recall Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Dan Ryan

Oregon law says elected officials must serve six months of their current terms before being subject to recall.

Protesters in downtown Portland in July 2020. (Wesley Lapointe)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Last week, mayoral runner-up Sarah Iannarone announced she was forming a political action committee aimed at "forwarding progressive solutions" on which she campaigned. This week, Portland lawyer Alan Kessler, a fervent Iannarone supporter, announced he's established another PAC, "Total Recall."

That committee, Kessler says, will try to gather enough voter signatures to recall Mayor Ted Wheeler, who won reelection to a second term in November, and Commissioner Dan Ryan, who won a special election in August.

Kessler and his allies took offense that Ryan joined Wheeler and Commissioner Amanda Fritz earlier this month in voting against Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty's proposal for a midyear, $18 million cut to the Portland Police Bureau's budget.

Oregon law says elected officials must serve six months of their current terms before being subject to recall. Then, a campaign has 90 days after filing the required paperwork to gather 35,925 signatures to put a recall on the ballot.

"I voted for Dan Ryan because he led me to believe he was a staunch advocate for police reform," Kessler said in a statement. "After his refusal to vote for Commissioner Hardesty's budget reduction amendment, I feel betrayed. I want my vote back. I want an apology."

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