In January 2025, the city of Portland switched to a mayor–council form of government from a commission form of government, with elections held the prior November. The half of the city council began full four-year terms, while the other half of the city council started initial two-year terms to establish a staggered election cycle.[2]
There are no term-limits for city councilors and they are all officially nonpartisan,[3] although all current members of the council are members of the Democratic Party,[4] and four of the councilors are members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).[5][6] Six councilors, including the four DSA members, are part of a progressive caucus that often votes as a bloc.[7]
All of Portland west of the Willamette River (Northwest, Southwest, and South sextants) as well as a small area on the east side including three neighborhoods.
The Portland Charter was the subject of much debate circa 1911–1912. Rival charters were drafted by four different groups. One of these proposed charters was unusual in that it would have used Bucklin voting to elect the mayor and implemented interactive representation of the people through the commissioner system; each commissioner's vote would have been weighted according to the number of votes he received in the election. eventually, the city council submitted an entirely different charter to the people, which was accepted.[9] The city commission government form then came into use in 1913, with H. Russell Albee being the first mayor under the new system.[10]
Between 1913 and 2024, Portland ran on this commission form of government, the largest city in the United States to do so. The council was composed of five members, referred to as Commissioners, which included the Mayor, each elected at-large for a term of four years. One of the Commissioners was elected to be the ceremonial President of the Council.
Commissioners were each assigned to run and oversee various city Bureaus (eg. Police, Fire, Environmental Services, Water). These assignments were occasionally switched around with the exception of the Police Bureau of which the Mayor had always been Commissioner of based on tradition.
2022 Charter Reform
Ballot Measure 26-228 in the November 2022 election was an amendment to the city charter that moved the city away from a commission system of government. It removes the five-person board that includes the mayor to a twelve-person board plus a separate mayor. The new city councilors will be elected using proportional multi-winner ranked-choice voting, with three members being elected each from four districts, instead of the standard first-past-the-post method. It also removes responsibility for direct management of city bureaus from commissioners to a city manager overseen by the mayor and confirmed by the council.[11] Previous attempts to reform the city charter had been defeated seven times since 1913,[12] including as recently as 2007. Portland is set to become the most-populated city to adopt the single transferable vote to elect city council members.
The first city council elections under the new districts occurred in 2024.[13] In preparation for transitioning management of city bureaus to a city manager, Mayor Ted Wheeler grouped city bureaus into five related service areas.[14]
Portland had officially transitioned to a mayor-council system on January 1, 2025,[2] and held its first meeting on the 2nd. At the first meeting of the new council, Elana Pirtle-Guiney was elected council president in a 7-to-5 vote after 10 rounds and Tiffany Koyama Lane was elected vice president unanimously.[15][16]
2024-present
After the 2024 election created the expanded city council, the council was informally separated into two factions, the moderates, and the progressive caucus which refers to itself as "Peacock." Since 2025, the factions have six members each.[17] After a contentious nine-round vote on January 2, 2025, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, a member of the moderate faction, was elected council president in a 7-5 vote, with Peacock member Mitch Green switching his vote in the final round. Pirtle-Guiney was not an initial candidate for the role. Tiffany Koyama Lane was unanimously elected as the council's vice president.
On January 14, 2026, Jamie Dunphy was elected president for the year in a 9-3 vote after a tense 10 hour debate spanning three council meetings. Like last year, Dunphy was not an initial candidate for the role, but was selected as a compromise candidate. Olivia Clark was elected vice president in an 11-1 vote, with Loretta Smith voting against Clark.[18]
↑McBain, Howard Lee. The Law and the Practice of Municipal Home Rule. pp.598–599.
↑MacColl, E. Kimbark (1976). "Chapter 14 – The Fruits of Progressivism, 1913–1915". The Shaping of a City: Business and Politics in Portland, Oregon, 1885 to 1915. Portland, Oregon: The Georgian Press Company. pp.443–445. ISBN0-89174-043-0.
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