2024 Portland, Oregon municipal elections

The 2024 Portland municipal elections were held on November 5, 2024, to elect the mayor, city auditor and city council of Portland, Oregon. This was the first Portland election to use ranked-choice voting (instant-runoff voting for the mayor's position; single transferable voting for city councillors) following the implementation of charter reform approved by voters in a 2022 ballot measure. ^[1]

Businessman Keith Wilson was elected mayor, defeating 3 incumbent city commissioners who also ran for the position. Commissioner Dan Ryan was the sole incumbent to be elected to the new city council, although former commissioner Steve Novick also won a seat. The remaining ten council seats were won by members who had not previously held office in Portland, including Elana Pirtle-Guiney and Tiffany Koyama Lane, who were elected council president and vice president respectively in January 2025. Incumbent auditor Simone Rede was re-elected unopposed.

Municipal elections in Portland are officially nonpartisan, meaning that party affiliations are not listed on the ballot.

Mayor

Main article: 2024 Portland, Oregon mayoral election

Candidates

• Sadiq Ali ^[2]
• Shei'Meka As-Salaam, educator ^[2]
• James Atkinson IV, inventor ^[2]
• Durrell Kinsey Bey, youth leadership program worker ^[3]
• Rene Gonzalez, city commissioner ^[4]
• Michael Hayes, retired ^[2]
• Yao Jun He ^[2]
• Josh Leake, loan officer and small business owner ^[2]
• James Macdonald ^[2]
• Mingus Mapps, city commissioner ^[5]
• Sharon Nasset, service worker ^[2]
• Michael Necula, bartender ^[2]
• Alexander Landry Neely, winemaker and small business owner ^[2]
• Michael O'Callaghan, activist ^[2]
• Liv Osthus, stripper and author ^[6]
• Carmen Rubio, city commissioner ^[7]
• Martin Ward ^[2]
• Keith Wilson, CEO of Titan Freight Systems ^[8]
• Dustin Witherspoon, maintenance supervisor ^[2]
• James Zehren, attorney and writer (write-in) ^[9]

Results

2024 Portland mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Maximum round	Maximum votes	Share in maximum round	Maximum votes First round votesTransfer votes
	Nonpartisan	Keith Wilson	19	149,959	59.25%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Carmen Rubio	19	103,157	40.75%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Rene Gonzalez	18	68,539	24.27%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Mingus Mapps	17	44,184	15.09%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Liv (Viva) Østhus	16	22,879	7.71%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Durrell Kinsey Bey	15	3,550	1.19%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Josh Leake	14	3,227	1.08%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Sharon Nasset	13	2,972	0.99%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Michael O'Callaghan	12	2,740	0.92%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Martin Ward	11	2,314	0.77%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Alexander Landry Neely	10	2,148	0.72%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Michael Hayes	9	1,982	0.66%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Shei'Meka (BeUtee) As-Salaam	8	1,448	0.48%	​​
	Nonpartisan	James McDonald	7	1,252	0.42%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Dustin Witherspoon	6	980	0.33%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Saadiq Ali	5	930	0.31%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Yao Jun He	4	809	0.27%	​​
	Nonpartisan	James Atkinson IV	3	555	0.18%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Write In	2	480	0.16%	​​
	Nonpartisan	Michael Necula	1	309	0.10%	​​

City auditor

The city auditor was elected to a two-year term in 2024, while the office will be up for election for a four-year term in 2026. Incumbent auditor Simone Rede ran for a second term and was re-elected unopposed. ^[10]

City council

Main article: 2024 Portland, Oregon City Council election

Due to a ballot measure passed by voters in 2022, which reformed the city charter, the 2024 election was the first under the new mayor–council system of government. The former 5-seat city commission, with members elected at-large, was replaced by a new city council with 12 seats elected from 4 geographic districts. City council members were elected using single transferable vote, with 3 winning candidates per district. All seats were up for election, with six members running for four-year terms and the other six running for two-year terms, which will be eligible to run for a full term in 2026.

All incumbent members of the Commission were eligible to run for re-election to the new City Council. Incumbent Dan Ryan was the only member to do so, winning a seat in district 2. ^[11] Former commissioner Steve Novick, who previously served a term from 2013 to 2017, was elected to the new city council representing district 3. ^[12] Two races remained too close to call for more than 2 weeks after the election. ^[11] The final 12-member council included six men and six women, five people of color, and four members who identify as LGBTQ. ^[13]

At the new council's inaugural meeting in January 2025, Elana Pirtle-Guiney was elected council president, while Tiffany Koyama Lane was elected vice president. ^[14]

References

1. Vaughn, Courtney (April 4, 2023). "Five Months Down, 20 to Go: Checking In on Portland's Charter Reform Makeover". Portland Mercury . Retrieved May 2, 2023.
2. "Here's who is running for Portland mayor in November". opb. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
3. Zielinski, Alex (September 13, 2023). "Portland mayor Ted Wheeler will not seek third term". Oregon Public Broadcasting . Retrieved December 4, 2023.
4. Kavanaugh, Shane (December 6, 2023). "Portland City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez launches run for mayor: 'I think a centrist can win'". The Oregonian . Retrieved December 6, 2023.
5. Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon (July 5, 2023). "Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps launches bid for mayor in 2024". The Oregonian/OregonLive . Retrieved July 5, 2023.
6. Peel, Sophie (February 27, 2024). "Liv Osthus, Stage Name Viva Las Vegas, Is Running for Portland Mayor". Willamette Week . Retrieved February 27, 2024.
7. Edge, Sami (January 9, 2024). "City Commissioner Carmen Rubio joins race for Portland mayor". The Oregonian . Retrieved January 9, 2024.
8. Vaughn, Courtney; Griggs, Taylor (February 16, 2024). "Portland 2024 Mayoral Candidates". Portland Mercury . Retrieved February 21, 2024.
9. "Register of City Candidates | City of Portland 2024 November General Election | Portland.gov". www.portland.gov. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
10. Haynes, Dana (November 5, 2024). "Portland's incumbent auditor to retain her job". PortlandTribune.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
11. Kavanaugh, Shane Dixon (November 21, 2024). "Final 2 Portland City Council candidates win election". The Oregonian. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
12. Boddie, Ken; Deml, Jenna (November 17, 2024). "City councilor-elect Steve Novick a familiar face in uncharted waters". KOIN. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
13. Zielinski, Alex (November 19, 2024). "Portland's new city council prepares for the next chapter". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
14. Zielinski, Alex (January 2, 2025). "Portland's new council elects Councilor Pirtle-Guiney as its first president ... eventually". Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved January 10, 2025.