Here’s who is running for Portland mayor in November

Editor’s note: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Stay informed with OPB on the presidential race, key congressional battles and other local contests and ballot measures in Oregon and Southwest Washington at opb.org/elections.

Portland is entering a new chapter of city government in 2025, and many want a seat at the top. In all, 19 people have filed to run for mayor.

It’s not unusual to see a large turnout for a mayoral election in Portland, but there are several reasons this race stands out.

In 2022, voters approved a set of reforms to the city’s form of government and election system.

That included significant changes to the mayor’s role and responsibilities. Starting next year, the mayor will no longer have a vote on City Council, except to break a tie, and will largely serve an administrative role. The mayor will focus on working with a new city administrator to oversee city bureaus and craft the annual budget. They will also be responsible for appointing and overseeing the city administrator, city attorney, and police chief. Importantly, the job also comes with a 17% raise to just over $175,000 a year.

City staff overseeing these changes say the mayor will serve more as a “figurehead” for the city than a legislator. Being a brand-new position to Portland, it will be largely up to the new mayor to shape this office and demonstrate its parameters.

The candidates bring big ideas to the table — and unique expertise. From an iconic local stripper to the head of a trucking company, many of this year’s mayoral hopefuls are new to government. Others, like the three current city commissioners in the race, are running on their political track records.

To give voters a sense of those in the running, we’ve broken down each candidate by their background, public support and financial standing as of Oct. 1. Much of the information is culled from candidate questionnaires sent by OPB in partnership with the Oregonian/OregonLive.com.

We also noted whether candidates have qualified to receive public financing through the city’s Small Donor Election program, which means they have collected donations under $350 from at least 750 individual donors. We also point out which candidates haven’t reported any campaign donations, which means they haven’t spent more than $750 on their campaign.

While the position is nonpartisan, we have also indicated candidates’ registration to any political party.

Carmen Rubio

Portland City Commissioner Carmen Rubio has spent more time in Portland City Hall than any other candidate. Rubio joined the staff of then-Mayor Tom Potter in 2005, and later worked for former Commissioner Nick Fish. In both roles, Rubio worked directly with members of the public, collecting feedback and sharing information about city programs. She took this expertise with her to her next job running Latino Network, a nonprofit that advocates for Portland’s Latino community.

Since joining City Council in 2021, Rubio has focused largely on economic and development work. She helped establish city programs to support small businesses on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and backed a plan to pair the city’s future economic growth with climate resilience. As the city’s housing commissioner, Rubio led work to streamline the city’s labyrinthine permitting process and incentivize new affordable housing developments.

Far from a radical leftist, Rubio’s liberal politics have made her the most progressive candidate on Portland City Council. In her policy work, she’s been able to win support from often at-odds groups, like business leaders, environmental groups, housing developers, and homeless advocates.

If elected, Rubio said she will use her ability to work across diverse communities to “bring the city together” during a divisive time. While she voted to pass the city’s latest penalties on unsheltered camping on public property, Rubio wrote in response to our questionnaire that the policy still doesn’t meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. Instead, she wants to focus on building more shelters and programs to accommodate the city’s homeless population before turning to arrests or tickets. She’s eager to “right-size” Portland’s police force and to refocus the bureau on community-centered police work.

The campaign trail has been hard on Rubio. Last month, reporting from The Oregonian/OregonLive.com found that Rubio had racked up 150 traffic and parking violations since 2004. Her license was suspended at least six times for failing to pay fines or appear in court. Although she has since paid off all fines, Rubio hasn’t offered a clear explanation, aside from numerous work and life stressors that distracted her from paying. A week after this reporting broke, the Oregonian/OregonLive.com also obtained video of Rubio appearing to hit a parked Tesla with her car and walking away without leaving a note. Rubio lost two endorsements over these revelations.

Read Rubio’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 50

Neighborhood: Rose City Park

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: Bachelor’s degree, University of Oregon

Occupation: Portland City Commissioner

Related experience: Joined Portland City Council in 2021, Director of Latino Network for 10+ years, worked in offices of Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz, Portland Mayor Tom Potter, and Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish.

Supporters/endorsements: Gov. Tina Kotek, Metro Council President Lynn Peterson, Former Gov. Kate Brown, former Portland Mayor Tom Potter, Northwest Oregon Labor Council, AFSCME Local 189, AFSCME Council 75, SEIU Oregon Council, Sunrise Movement PDX, Portland for All, UFCW 555, the Portland Association of Teachers, and more.

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? Yes

If so, how many people have contributed to the campaign? 1,148

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: $236,000

Links: Website

Rene Gonzalez

In a race of staunch Democrats, City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez is running the most moderate campaign for mayor, leaning on traditional “tough on crime” policies and big business talking points.

“My vision includes making Portland one of the safest cities in America,” Gonzalez wrote in response to our questionnaire.

Since entering City Hall last year, Gonzalez has pushed to penalize people living outside who are hesitant to accept the city’s help and questioned whether new police accountability tools are too hard on officers. He’s called to prioritize market-rate housing development over new affordable housing, often against the recommendation of city staff. His votes on council often straddle liberal and conservative ideologies.

Because of these policies and others, he’s a divisive figure in City Hall. Gonzalez believes it’s made him and his family a target: In January, he reported that his parents’ car had caught fire while parked outside of his house — and police continue to investigate the incident as arson.

Weeks later, Gonzalez said he was “accosted” while riding the MAX. Security camera footage capturing the incident first published by The Oregonian/OregonLive showed a woman walking past Gonzalez’s aisle seat before sitting in front of him. It’s not clear in the video if she touched him at all.

Gonzalez told us that, if elected, his top budget priority would be hiring more police officers. He’s also interested in using revenue from the Portland Clean Energy Fund to backfill the budgets of other city bureaus. Another way to shore up the budget? Potentially cutting staff positions in the new city governance model’s administrative department, he suggests.

Read Gonzalez’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 50

Neighborhood: Eastmoreland

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: J.D., Willamette School of Law

Occupation: Portland City Commissioner

Related experience: Joined Portland City Council in 2023, founded Political Action Committee called ED 300 to lobby politicians to reopen schools during COVID-19 pandemic, ran a business offering legal services to commercial and corporate businesses called Eastbank Legal.

Supporters/endorsements: Former U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, Multnomah County District Attorney-Elect Nathan Vasquez, Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton, Portland Firefighters Association, Portland Police Association, Multnomah County Deputy Sheriffs Association, Multifamily NW, Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council and more.

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? Yes

If so, how many people have contributed to the campaign? 1,090

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: $292,000

Links: Website

Related: What you need to know about voting in Oregon and Southwest Washington

Mingus Mapps

Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps fashioned himself as the academic voice on council when he joined in 2021. His background teaching political science at Brandeis University often comes up in debates over data or analysis, and can put him at odds with the public and other elected leaders. Last year, Mapps lobbied to pull millions in city dollars promised to a racial equity organization after learning that it had sat unspent for years — even after the organization explained it had never received that money from the city. Mapps’ proposal failed, but not without a loud outcry from Black members of the Legislature and other racial justice groups.

Mapps also got heat for appearing to cater to downtown hotel owners’ opposition to a bike lane project along Southwest 4th Avenue while he oversaw the transportation bureau.

He was an early skeptic to the changes coming to Portland’s form of government, raising alarms that the new voting process would be too complex. He remains concerned, even as he vies for a role in the new governance system. In answers to our questionnaire, Mapps said he worries the new governance structure may lack efficiency and transparency. And he clearly laid out his own role: “The mayor should serve as a unifying figure, focusing on strategic leadership, policy vision, and ensuring accountability across all bureaus.”

Mapps touts his record overseeing public works bureaus as proof of his budget management and administrative skills. He said his top priorities in office would be strengthening Portland’s economy and expanding mental health resources for Portlanders experiencing homelessness. (While Multnomah County oversees all behavioral health programs in the region, it does partner with the city to address homeless services.)

Mapps was the first to join the mayor’s race, nearly 500 days before election day. Yet the path to the ballot has been weighed down with campaign finance woes that have left him out of several top-tier mayoral debates. Long-brewing rumors of Mapps’ exit from the race, however, have only ignited his campaign in the weeks leading up to the election. Through his campaign, he’s accused the city’s “power brokers” of trying to strong-arm him out of the race.

Read Mapps’ full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 56

Neighborhood: Buckman

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: Ph.D., Cornell University

Occupation: Portland City Commissioner

Related experience: Joined Portland City Council in 2021, oversaw the Office of Community and Civic Life’s neighborhood programs, was the director of Historic Parkrose Business District, and worked under two former Multnomah County Commissioners, Gladys McCoy and Beverly Stein.

Supporters/endorsements: Former State Senator Avel Gordly, former State Senator Margaret Carter, Portland Public School Board member Gary Hollands, and PROTEC17.

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? Yes

If so, how many people have contributed to the campaign? 896

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: $184,000

Links: Website

Keith Wilson

Keith Wilson brings perhaps the most ambitious goal to the mayor’s race: Ending unsheltered homelessness by 2026. It’s a familiar pitch: In 2016, then-mayoral candidate Ted Wheeler pledged to shelter all homeless Portlanders in two years (he hasn’t).

Wilson, who heads the trucking company Titan Freight, brings a businessman’s approach to the city’s homeless crisis. He argues that building enough new shelters to accommodate the city’s unsheltered population will erase tent encampments, an idea that has drawn light skepticism from longtime homeless advocates. But Wilson has done the research: He’s visited cities across the country to learn different approaches to addressing homeless and built a nonprofit in 2023 focused on growing Portland’s shelter capacity. He doesn’t support jailing people for camping outside and refusing to move into shelter.

If elected, Wilson said he would crack down on carbon pollution in Portland and convert all city-owned vehicles to run on electricity (which Wilson did to all Titan trucks in 2023). He seeks to strengthen the Portland Clean Energy Fund, a business tax-funded program that pays for green jobs and renewable energy projects. Yet he opposes introducing any new taxes. Wilson has proposed cutting the amount of money the city spends on addressing unsheltered homelessness to free up more budget dollars.

On the campaign trail, he’s carved out a path as the only leading candidate not currently in office.

“Electing one of our failed city leaders into the Mayor’s office will double down on the dysfunction of the status quo,” Wilson wrote.

Read Wilson’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 61

Neighborhood: Alameda

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: Masters of Business Administration, University of Portland

Occupation: CEO of Titan Freight Systems

Related experience: Founded homeless service nonprofit Shelter Portland, helped establish the Multnomah County Homeless Court Program, member of several advisory boards for the Oregon Department of Transportation and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Supporters/endorsements: Metro Councilor Ashton Simpson, state Rep. Mark Gamba, state Rep. Thuy Tran, UFCW Local 555, and Sunrise Movement PDX.

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? Yes

If so, how many people have contributed to the campaign? 1,283

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: $239,000

Links: Website

Liv (Viva) Østhus

Liv Østhus is perhaps more widely known in Portland by Viva Las Vegas, the stage name she takes on while performing at Mary’s Club. Østhus said her decades of experience working at Portland’s oldest strip club are why she’s qualified for the mayor’s office.

“A dancer’s job is to connect with, listen to, and ultimately inspire every person who walks through the door, regardless of political allegiance, color, or creed,” she wrote in response to our questionnaire. “I want exactly those skills in our next mayor.”

Østhus sees the mayor’s role as “head storyteller,” a leader who should work to boost the city’s image by talking about Portland’s virtues.

If elected, Østhus said she would focus on environmental cleanup programs and turning vacant and abandoned buildings into housing or small businesses. She sees no merits in arresting people for camping in public, and is more interested in focusing on gun violence in the city’s outer east neighborhoods than policing tents. Østhus expressed strong support for the new, voter-approved Police Accountability Commission and full expansion of Portland Street Response, the city’s alternative first response program.

Østhus is the only mayoral candidate who explicitly agreed to donate to other City Council candidates in exchange for incoming donations to her campaign — documented in an email chain between candidates shared with OPB and other media outlets. The Secretary of State’s office is currently investigating whether or not these exchanges were allowed under elections law.

Read Østhus’ full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 50

Neighborhood: Mt. Tabor

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: Bachelor of Arts, Williams College

Occupation: Stripper, author

Related experience: Has testified at City Council and other venues for sex worker protections.

Supporters/endorsements: Several local small business owners.

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? Yes

If so, how many people have contributed to the campaign? 866

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: $122,000

Links: Website

Related: Issues important to Oregon voters

Michael O’Callaghan

Michael O’Callaghan wants to be Portland’s first mayor who is living unsheltered. He has lived outside on and off throughout his life, and said that makes him best equipped to address the city’s homelessness crisis.

To address this, he said he would push for more office-to-residential building conversion, fine residential property owners for vacant units, and allow for more self-governed encampments, like Right 2 Dream Too, which O’Callaghan himself helped establish. He said he is more interested in cracking down on gun crime and human trafficking than homelessness.

“You arrest people for bad behaviors, for acting in an unsafe or threatening manner,” he wrote. “Not for sleeping on a sidewalk”

Read O’Callaghan’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 80

Neighborhood: Brooklyn

Party: Nonaffiliated

Highest education completed: Three years at Oregon State University, no degree

Occupation: Advocate for unhoused Portlanders

Related experience: Helped establish self-managed homeless encampment Right 2 Dream Too

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: Website

Durrell Kinsey Bey

Since moving to Portland in 2021, Durrell Kinsey Bey has immersed himself in community organizations that support youth and food sovereignty. If elected, he’d like to focus on investing in urban farming as both a way to lessen food insecurity and create jobs. Bey also sees investments in neighborhood associations and neighborhood resiliency plans — in the face of myriad natural disasters — as critical.

He believes the new system of government can strengthen the city’s commitment to equity and stability following the COVID-19 pandemic. “While skepticism is natural, we have a unique opportunity to demonstrate that Portland’s challenges are temporary,” Bey writes.

Read Bey’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 30

Neighborhood: Centennial

Party: Nonaffiliated

Highest education completed: Certificate, Pathways School of Massage

Occupation: Youth Advocate at REAP Inc.

Related experience: None

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: $2,700

Links: Website

Shei’Meka (BeUtee) As-Salaam

Shei’Meka (BeUtee) As-Salaam told us she’s interested in focusing on addressing Portland’s inequities by supporting community organizations over corporations and tackling the root causes of homelessness and housing insecurity. “We have to be honest about what is not working,” she writes. As-Salaam also wants to see more trauma-informed police officers with social worker backgrounds.

Read As-Salaam’s response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 46

Neighborhood: Downtown

Party: Nonaffiliated

Highest education completed: Bachelor’s degree from Mt. Hood Community College

Occupation: Educator (homeschool teacher and other community youth programs)

Related experience: Previous member of the Parent Teacher Association for King Elementary

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: No website

Dustin Witherspoon

Dustin Witherspoon’s candidacy appears driven by his dissatisfaction with the status quo. A top priority, per his questionnaire answers: “Fire the inept.” He suggests gutting middle management in the Police Bureau and firing those who oversee city programs addressing homelessness. “There will be a reckoning and there will be a long line at the unemployment office,” he writes.

Witherspoon proposes offering tiny home shelters to anyone experiencing homelessness, but supports incarcerating people who don’t accept help. He’s also interested in eliminating all city dollars that fund green energy projects.

Read Witherspoon’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 39

Neighborhood: Downtown Portland

Party: Independent

Highest education completed: Bachelor’s degree, Deakin University

Occupation: Maintenance supervisor

Related experience: None

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: No website

Saadiq Ali

Saadiq Ali put an aspiring career in real estate on hold to run for mayor, according to his questionnaire answers. If elected, he would prioritize investments in street maintenance and security systems at public schools. He’s interested in keeping the Portland Clean Energy Fund intact and expanding homeless shelters and street outreach programs.

Read Ali’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 20

Neighborhood: Powellhurst-Gilbert

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: GED

Occupation: Unemployed

Related experience: None

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: No website

James Atkinson IV

Read James Atkinson’s response to our questionnaire. He did not submit a statement to the Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet.

Age: 38

Neighborhood: Homestead

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: High School

Occupation: Inventor (OPB could not find any record of the technology Atkinson claimed to have invented.)

Related experience: None

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None recorded, does not have a campaign finance account for collecting or tracking donations

Links: No website

Martin Ward

While Martin Ward has no experience working in government, he has drafted many detailed proposals he’d like to enact if elected, ranging from autonomous TriMet buses to new public beaches along the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Ward told us he would cut millions in the city budget to halt major infrastructure projects, environmental services, and police oversight. Instead he suggests spending those dollars on building public housing, more commercial spaces like strip malls and installing video surveillance technology citywide.

Read Ward’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 33

Neighborhood: Laurelhurst

Party: Nonaffiliated

Highest education completed: Bachelor’s degree, Portland State University

Occupation: Unemployed

Related experience: None

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: Website

Sharon Nasset

Sharon Nasset has spent years advocating for transportation and business issues in North Portland. She has been a vocal opponent to all previous and current proposals to replace I-5 bridge over the Columbia River, and has instead touted a plan to build a new “third bridge” over the river. This isn’t her first foray into politics: In 2016, Nasset ran a primary campaign against then-Rep. Tina Kotek. Nasset’s campaign attracted the Secretary of State’s attention when, after Nasset missed the deadline to submit a statement to the voters’ pamphlet, Nasset appeared to work with a group to distribute a knockoff voters’ guide.

She met the pamphlet deadline this time around. If elected, Nasset said she would like to build boarding houses to address the city’s homeless crisis and strengthen police recruitment programs to beef up the Police Bureau.

Read Nasset’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 65

Neighborhood: Piedmont

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: Two years at Portland Community College

Occupation: Director of transportation advocacy nonprofit Third Bridge Now

Related experience: Member of the North Portland Business Association, ran an unsuccessful primary campaign for the Oregon House of Representatives in 2016

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: Website

Related: Listen to 'OPB Politics Now'

Josh Leake

Portland Film Festival founder Josh Leake said he’d use his position in the mayor’s office to focus on economic development in neighborhoods often neglected by City Hall. That work would prioritize environmentally-conscious job creation and programs supported by the Portland Clean Energy Fund. In our questionnaire, Leake pointed to his experience with mortgage management and nonprofit budgets as an asset in overseeing the city’s budget during a cut year.

“I’m committed to fostering a more responsive, efficient government that serves all Portlanders, guided by my grandmother’s wisdom: ‘Closed mouths never get fed,’” Leake wrote.

Read Leake’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 49

Neighborhood: Pearl

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: Bachelor’s degree, Portland State University

Occupation: President of Plum Tree Mortgage and Executive Director of Portland Film Festival

Related experience: Interned for two former Portland mayors (Vera Katz and Sam Adams)

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: Website

Michael Hayes

Michael Hayes did not respond to our questionnaire, but he did submit a statement to the Multnomah County’s voters’ pamphlet, where he celebrated the changes coming to Portland’s governance structure. He pointed to his background working on housing programs for the federal government as proof of his abilities to oversee the new model. “Please join me in benching the politicians,” Hayes wrote, “the best days are ahead if we vote for professional management.”

Age: 84

Neighborhood: Sellwood-Moreland

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: Bachelor’s degree, University of California, Berkeley

Occupation: Retired

Related experience: Worked as a project manager for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Portland and San Francisco

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: No website

James MacDonald

James MacDonald grew up in Portland, and has since grown fed up with the city’s trajectory. “When our citizens vote, they vote to improve our lives and yet government leaders keep letting them down,” he wrote. MacDonald would like to create a national ad campaign to draw visitors to Portland.

Read MacDonald’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 66

Neighborhood: Montavilla

Party: Republican

Highest education completed: Two years of college

Occupation: Unemployed

Related experience: None

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: Website

Alexander Landry Neely

Alexander Landry Neely is a winery owner interested in uplifting Portland’s artists and small business owners from the mayor’s office. In answers to our questionnaire, Neely said he would also prioritize growing Portland Street Response and expanding the number of housing for people experiencing homelessness. “If you want people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, you have to give them boots,” he wrote.

Read Neely’s full response to our questionnaire here.

Age: 43

Neighborhood: St. Johns

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: Bachelor’s degree, Reed College

Occupation: Winemaker, owner of Libertine Wines

Related experience: None

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: No website

Michael Necula

Michael Necula did not respond to our questionnaire, nor did he submit a statement to the Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet.

Age: 33

Neighborhood: Goose Hollow

Party: Republican

Highest education completed: Bachelor’s degree, Chapman University

Occupation: Bartender

Related experience: None

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: No website

Yao Jun He

Yao Jun He did not respond to our questionnaire, nor did she submit a statement to the Multnomah County voters’ pamphlet.

Age: 79

Neighborhood: Centennial

Party: Democratic

Highest education completed: High School

Occupation: Unemployed

Related experience: Purported to have worked for the Chinese government for 25 years, unconfirmed by OPB.

Supporters/endorsements: None listed

Participating in the Small Donor Election program? No

Total contributions as of Oct. 1: None

Links: No website