Jo Ann Hardesty Sees Primary Victory, Heading to Runoff

Money put up to defeat activist commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty was not enough. She is headed for a runoff for Portland City Council with Rene Gonzalez. Gonzalez came in second with a slight lead over Vadim Mozyrsky. The race was hotly contested. The second and third spots were still having ballots counted.

Mozyrsky received major support and at the end of the race, spent six figures running ads. He received 23% of the vote to Gonzalez 24%.

Gonzalez has just recently jumped on the political scene. He is a business man that pushed a law and order platform. Mozyrsky is a wealthy downtown power broker with major support that was reported on by the Portland Medium newspaper. 

Incumbent Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty remains a big deal to the voting public. Her support is in progressive neighborhoods around Portland. Well after the counting, Hardesty remained ahead of her opponents with nearly 44% of the vote. Candidates must get 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff. The winner must challenge the republican in the general election.

Gonzalez was ahead of Mozyrsky by about 1,400 votes. They both accumulated over 45% of the primary votes. Hardesty captured more than 50% or more of the vote across 19 precincts north and east of the Willamette River, a rich and contiguous vein of support stretching from St. Johns to the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood 15 miles away.

Hardesty is the first Black woman to serve on the City Council. She reminded the voters about and her work to support the Portland Street Response, the city’s program to provide non-police response to those in crisis, as well as her leading role in pushing for a new voter-approved police oversight system.