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Adrian Brown Wins Hotly Contested Multnomah County Judge Race Against Rima Ghandour

The lawyers wound up in the November runoff after failing to secure a majority of votes during the primary.

By Tess Riski

Adrian Brown, the civil rights coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office for Oregon, appeared on her way to victory over Rima Ghandour in the race for Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Position 12. In early returns Tuesday night, Brown led 57% to 41%.

Brown, who was the lead attorney on a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the practices of the Portland Police Bureau, earned endorsements from both Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, as well as his competitor in the primaries, prosecutor Ethan Knight.

Brown faced Ghandour, a lawyer who owns a Portland law firm and who previously worked as a senior counsel for Safeco Insurance. She is also the founding member of the Arab American Cultural Center and former president of the Multnomah County Bar Association, where she is currently a board member.

In the primaries, both candidates fell shy of earning a majority of the votes, resulting in a November runoff. In that race, Brown won 32% of the vote, and Ghandour won 23%. Four other candidates won less than 20% each.

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