FILE - The entrance to Portland City Hall on Oct. 5, 2026, Portland, Ore.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Three incumbents continue to hold the lead in the race to represent District 4 on Portland City Council.
Councilors Olivia Clark, Eric Zimmerman and Mitch Green ledshortly after 8 p.m. on Election Night and those results held up following a second round of tallying released just after midnight.
The results are preliminary as the county elections office continues to count ballots and conducts rounds of tallying ranked-choice ballots.
This is the second year that Portland voters have elected councilors using a ranked-choice system, where three candidates win by collecting just over 25% of their district’s vote.
(Left to right) Olivia Clark, Mitch Green and Eric Zimmerman, incumbent candidates in the District 4 Portland City Council race.
Left: Anna Lueck for OPB; Center: Eli Imadali/OPB; Right: Saskia Hatvany/OPB / OPB
Under this system, if a voter’s first-ranked candidate doesn’t cross that vote threshold to win, their vote counts toward their next choice. And if a voter’s top candidate gets more than 25% of the votes needed to win, their extra or “surplus” votes get distributed to their second option. It won’t be clear what that threshold is until all votes are counted.
For District 4, which includes all neighborhoods west of the Willamette River and a small portion of inner Southeast Portland, that meant about 19,000 votes in 2024.
There are 12 candidates running for a District 4 seat. That includes the three incumbents along with Portland police officer Eli Arnold, former City Council staffer Jamey Evenstar, construction manager Jeremy Beausoleil Smith and nonprofit consultant Jayne Cronlund.
Clark spent decades leading TriMet’s government affairs. Zimmerman previously worked as a chief of staff for Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards and served as the deputy city manager of Medford. He’s a member of the Oregon Army National Guard. Both Clark and Zimmerman represent the more moderate half of council. Green also served in the Army and previously worked as an economist for the Bonneville Power Administration. Green is a member of the local Democratic Socialists of America and one of the most progressive councilors.
District 4 is one of two city council districts on the ballot this November. Three council seats are up for election in Southeast Portland’s District 3. Check in on District 3 races here.
This story will be updated.
