Vadim Mozyrsky Loans His Campaign for County Commissioner $30,000

Administrative law judge Vadim Mozyrsky, who’s running for a seat on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, loaned his own campaign $30,000 this week. The generous loan comes just a month shy of the May primary.

The loan is surprising partly because Mozyrsky has outraised his top opponent, Disability Rights Oregon policy director Meghan Moyer, by a 5-to-1 ratio. Mozyrsky has raised $98,000 so far this year and has $54,000 in cash on hand, compared to Moyer’s $22,000 raised and $17,000 cash on hand.

Mozyrsky says the loan is to make sure he has the funds to send out three separate mailers to voters between now and election day and to boost his chances of getting over 50% plus 1 of the vote in the primary to avoid a fall runoff. Such loans are common practice for independently wealthy candidates; they can later repay themselves from unused campaign dollars.

This is the second attempt by Mozyrsky, 51, to serve in local elected office; he ran for Portland City Council in 2022 but didn’t make it past the primary, despite local real estate moguls propping up his campaign with a loaded independent expenditure campaign. Despite Mozyrsky’s loss in spring 2022, he maintained his popularity with the business community for his promises to crack down on homelessness and bolster the ranks of the Portland Police Bureau. He’s received campaign contributions this year from the city’s top real estate companies and business leaders.

Four of the county’s five commissioner seats are up for grabs this year, making this election cycle one that could shift the board’s priorities and political leanings. While two of the races have clear front-runners, both of whom are moderate Democrats, the remaining two seats are shaping up as more competitive races that could swing to either the more progressive or moderate candidate.

In District 1, the seat currently occupied by outgoing County Commissioner Sharon Meieran, Mozyrsky and Moyer are the leading candidates. In District 2, the three most serious candidates are former Mayor Sam Adams, Society Hotel owner Jessie Burke, and Shannon Singleton, former interim director of the Joint Office of Homeless Services.