In a significant political shift, voters in Portland, Oregon, have elected political outsider Keith Wilson as their new mayor. His victory comes after a campaign that tapped into the community’s frustrations regarding persistent issues like homeless encampments, open drug use, and declining quality of life. Wilson outperformed three City Council members, including one involved in a scandal related to their driving record, who also sought to lead the city.
The mayoral race, featuring 19 candidates, opened up when Mayor Ted Wheeler chose not to seek reelection after serving since 2017. Wheeler gained national attention in 2020 during the protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.
Wilson triumphed in an election that utilized ranked-choice voting for the first time in Portland. This system allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes in the initial round, they are declared the winner.
As the CEO of a trucking company and founder of a nonprofit aimed at increasing homeless shelter capacity, Wilson made a bold commitment to eliminate unsheltered homelessness within a year of taking office. He plans to achieve this by expanding the number of nighttime emergency shelters in existing facilities, such as churches and community centers.
Wilson will lead a revamped government structure, as Portland is expanding its City Council from five to 12 members, with representatives elected from individual districts rather than citywide. Additionally, the city will introduce a city manager role.
His message resonated with Portland residents, many of whom have identified homelessness as a top concern in recent surveys.
In the ranked-choice voting process, about 35% of voters ranked Wilson as their first choice based on the preliminary results released on Tuesday and Wednesday. In contrast, City Council members Carmen Rubio and Rene Gonzalez received first-choice rankings from approximately 19% of voters each, while Mingus Mapps garnered about 13%.
Rubio and Gonzalez were initially considered frontrunners, but revelations regarding Rubio’s extensive driving record, which includes around 150 parking and traffic violations over the past two decades, impacted the race. Rubio has faced consequences for failing to pay many of these violations on time, resulting in her license being suspended six times, which led to the loss of some endorsements.
