2024 Portland, Oregon mayoral election explained

The 2024 Portland mayoral election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the mayor of Portland, Oregon. Businessman Keith Wilson was elected, defeating 3 city council members and 15 other candidates.^[1]

This was the first Portland mayoral election to use ranked-choice voting (Instant-runoff voting) after it was instituted by the passage of a 2022 ballot measure.^[2] Municipal elections in Portland are officially nonpartisan, meaning that party affiliations are not listed on the ballot.

Background

On June 12, 2023, Durrell Kinsey Bey became the first candidate to announce his run for mayor. He was followed by City Commissioner Mingus Mapps on July 3, 2023.

On September 13, 2023, incumbent Democratic mayor Ted Wheeler announced that he would not be seeking a third term. In December and January respectively, City Commissioners Rene Gonzalez and Carmen Rubio announced their candidacies as well.Homelessness and public safety were considered the two most important issues of this election.^[3] This election, as well as the City Council election, was a major indication of political shifts in Portland. The previous mayoral and city council elections saw a shift away from progressives towards slightly more moderate elected officials.^[4]

Candidates

Declared

Candidate	Experience	Announced
Durrell Kinsey Bey	Youth leadership program worker	Website	[5]
Mingus Mapps	Portland City Commissioner, Position 4 Academic	Website	[6]
Rene Gonzalez	Portland City Commissioner, Position 3 Attorney	Website	[7]
Carmen Rubio	Portland City Commissioner, Position 1 Policy Advisor to Mayor Tom Potter and Commissioner Nick Fish	Website	[8]
Keith Wilson	CEO, Titan Freight Systems 2020 Portland City Council candidate	Website	[9]
Liv Osthus	Stripper, author, musician, and sex work advocate	Website	[10]

Declined

• Vadim Mozyrsky, administrative law judge and candidate for City Commission in 2022 (running for Multnomah County Commission)^[13]
• Dan Ryan, city commissioner (Democratic) (running for City Council)^[14]
• Ted Wheeler, incumbent mayor (Democratic)^[15]
• Sam Adams, former mayor (Democratic) (running for Multnomah County Commission)^{[16] [17]}

Endorsements

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mingus Mapps	Rene Gonzalez	Carmen Rubio	Keith Wilson	Liz Osthus	Write In	Undecided/Don't know
DHM Research[18]	October 9–13, 2024	300 (A)	± 5.7%	10%	23%	11%	18%	4%	1%	32%
Lake Research Partners[19]	August 7–11, 2024	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	13%	21%	13%	4%	3%	–	39%

Debates

No.	Date	Host	Location	Moderators	Participants	Link
1	April 25, 2024	National Association of Minority Contractors KOIN 6 Portland	Hilton Double Tree Lloyd Center	Ken Boddie	Mingus Mapps Carmen Rubio Keith Wilson
2	September 12, 2024	Portland Metro Chamber KOIN 6 Portland	Hilton Portland Hotel	Ken Boddie	Rene Gonzalez Carmen Rubio Keith Wilson	YouTube
3	October 15, 2024	KGW The Oregonian		David MolkoShane Dixon Kavanaugh	Rene GonzalezMingus Mapps Liv Osthus Carmen Rubio Keith Wilson	YouTube
4	October 20, 2024	Oregon Public Broadcasting		Dave Miller	Rene GonzalezMingus Mapps Carmen Rubio Keith Wilson

See also

• 2024 Portland, Oregon municipal elections
• 2024 Portland, Oregon City Council election

Notes

1. Web site: 2024-11-07 . In Portland, Oregon, political outsider Keith Wilson elected mayor after homelessness-focused race . 2024-11-08 . AP News . en.
2. Web site: Vaughn . Courtney . April 4, 2023 . Five Months Down, 20 to Go: Checking In on Portland's Charter Reform Makeover . May 2, 2023 . .
3. Web site: Griggs . Taylor . Vaughn . Courtney . 2024 Election: Portland City Council Candidates Already Scrambling For Public Campaign Dollars . September 26, 2023 . Portland Mercury . en.
4. Web site: Griffin, Anna . Massive change coming to Portland city government . September 26, 2023 . opb . en.
5. News: Zielinski, Alex . September 13, 2023 . Portland mayor Ted Wheeler will not seek third term . December 4, 2023 . Oregon Public Broadcasting.
6. Web site: Kavanaugh . Shane Dixon . July 5, 2023 . Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps launches bid for mayor in 2024 . July 5, 2023 . . en.
7. News: Kavanaugh . Shane . December 6, 2023 . Portland City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez launches run for mayor: ‘I think a centrist can win’ . December 6, 2023 . The Oregonian.
8. News: Edge . Sami . January 9, 2024 . City Commissioner Carmen Rubio joins race for Portland mayor . January 9, 2024 . The Oregonian.
9. News: Vaughn. Courtney . Griggs. Taylor. February 16, 2024. Portland 2024 Mayoral Candidates. Portland Mercury. February 21, 2024.
10. News: Peel. Sophie . February 27, 2024. Liv Osthus, Stage Name Viva Las Vegas, Is Running for Portland Mayor. Willamette Week. February 27, 2024.
11. News: Peel. Sophie. June 11, 2024. Marshall Runkel Is Running for Portland Mayor. Willamette Week. June 11, 2024.
12. News: Peel. Sophie. August 19, 2024. Marshall Runkel Drops Out of Mayoral Race. Willamette Week. August 19, 2024.
13. Web site: Peel . Sophie . January 28, 2023 . Former City Council Candidate Vadim Mozyrsky Mulls a Run for Multnomah County District Attorney . February 9, 2023 . . Nor will [Mozyrsky] run for mayor, he adds..
14. News: Foran. Andrew. December 4, 2023. Portland city commissioner Dan Ryan announces he won't run for mayor . KOIN. Portland, Oregon. December 4, 2023.
15. News: Peel. Sophie. September 13, 2023. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler Will Not Seek a Third Term. live. Willamette Week. https://web.archive.org/web/20230913221451/https://www.wweek.com/news/city/2023/09/13/portland-mayor-ted-wheeler-will-not-seek-a-third-term/. September 13, 2023. September 13, 2023.
16. Web site: Peel . Sophie . Rumored to Be Weighing Runs for Portland City Council, These Big Names Demur . . November 3, 2023 . August 30, 2023 . Sam Adams, former Portland mayor and onetime top aide to Mayor Ted Wheeler: Adams says he's recently been asked to run for mayor and for City Council, but hasn't decided yet. “It's not a no, it's not a yes,” he adds..
17. News: Dixon Kavanaugh . Shane . February 27, 2024. Former Portland mayor Sam Adams enters Multnomah County Commission race. The Oregonian. June 11, 2024.
18. Web site: Kavanaugh . Shane . Portland mayoral hopeful once considered a long shot is best positioned to win, Oregonian poll finds . . 23 October 2024 . https://archive.today/20241016172052/https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/10/portland-mayoral-hopeful-once-considered-a-long-shot-is-best-positioned-to-win-poll-finds.html?outputType=amp . 16 October 2024 . 16 October 2024 . live.
19. Web site: Oregonian/OregonLive . Shane Dixon Kavanaugh The . 2024-08-19 . Portland Commissioner Rene Gonzalez holds early lead in mayor's race, poll shows; nearly 40% of voters undecided . 2024-09-14 . oregonlive . en.