Composition of Portland City Council still uncertain as partial returns flow in

Most contests for the dozen seats on Portland's expanded City Council remained too uncertain to call Tuesday night after officials released partial returns for the city's first election using multi-winner ranked-choice voting.

Multnomah County election officials estimated as many as 53% of countywide ballots may be left to be tallied as of 8 p.m., injecting a high degree of volatility across all four of the city's newly created council districts, which collectively drew nearly 100 candidates.

Adding to the uncertainty: Voters in each district are electing three City Council members to represent them through a version of ranked-choice voting not used in any other U.S. city.

Under the first-in-the-nation election system, electors were allowed to choose up to six council candidates in order of preference, and candidates need only 25% of first-, second- and potentially even third-, fourth- and fifth-choice votes to win.

The new City Council will convene in January and be tasked with policy making and constituent services. The body will hold significant power within the city's new form of government, in part because Portland's next mayor won't have veto power.

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In east Portland's District 1, preliminary returns Tuesday showed environmental justice advocate Candace Avalos, former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith and former City Hall staffer Jamie Dunphy leading after preliminary ranked-choice rounds among the field of 16 candidates, followed by Radio Cab attorney Noah Ernst, business owner Terrence Hayes and transportation policy advocate Timur Ender.

In North and Northeast Portland's District 2, current City Commissioner Dan Ryan garnered the most votes in preliminary rounds among the race's 22 candidates, followed by policy strategist and longtime union leader Elana Pirtle-Guiney and Sameer Kamal, a former city policy manager. Behind them: city employee Tiffani Penson, former cider house owner Nat West and Portland Public Schools board member Michelle DePass.

Former Portland Commissioner Steve Novick won one of the three seats in Southeast Portland's District 3, which drew 30 candidates. Other strong contenders included Portland Public Schools teacher Tiffany Koyama Lane, rising progressive stalwart Angelita Morillo, former Portland Fire Bureau official Kezia Wanner, former Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder and Oregon Recovers policy director Jesse Cornett.

And in Portland's District 4, which encompasses the city's westside as well as Southeast's Sellwood and Eastmoreland neighborhoods, former TriMet official Olivia Clark captured one of three seats while economist Mitch Green and longtime local government staffer Eric Zimmerman were early frontrunners in the field of 30 candidates. Other top contenders included Portland bike cop Eli Arnold, chess club operator Chad Lykins and Bob Weinstein, a former mayor of Ketchikan, Alaska.

All told, 98 candidates sought a seat on Portland's 12-member legislative body, a job that comes with an annual salary of $133,000.

Additional movement and jockeying in each district race will unfold as more votes are tallied Wednesday, Thursday and Friday — and potentially into next week. Those additional ballots could cause significant changes during updated rounds of vote counting and upend the current order of candidate elimination.

Results are less up in the air in the city's first ranked-choice election for mayor. As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, businessman Keith Wilson appeared positioned to win the race with Portland Commissioner Carmen Rubio his strongest contender.

The glut of council hopefuls in each district, coupled with constricted campaign finance limits, proved a challenge for candidates and prospective voters alike. It also provided an unprecedented opportunity for business groups, unions and advocacy organizations to boost their favored candidates among the dizzying field.

For example, business-backed United for Portland spent at least a collective $200,000 promoting a handful of council candidates in each of the four districts, records show. Another outside group, Portland Voter Guide PAC, raised and spent $370,000 from a coalition of racial and social justice nonprofits to help progressive candidates they deemed best qualified to get elected to local office.

Portland's pivot to multi-winner ranked-choice voting in council races was among a trio of dramatic government and election reforms voters approved two years ago amid deepening dissatisfaction with how Oregon's most populous city runs and those elected to lead it.

It also proved the most controversial of the provisions, which include switching elections for mayor and city auditor to a common form of ranked-choice voting and revamping the city's bureaucracy to have professional city managers, not elected commissioners, oversee city departments and bureaus.

Political observers and scholars around the nation are watching closely to see what unfolds.

Champions of the new council voting method believe it will more fairly distribute power and offer a greater voice to communities that have traditionally lacked a seat at City Hall.

Proponents claim that by electing multiple candidates in a single district, thus lowering the threshold for each of them to win, multi-winner ranked-choice voting will better capture diverse political preferences, boost the number of people who vote and produce winners who satisfy more of the electorate.

Despite the dramatic makeover inside Portland City Hall, the problems its leaders must tackle will be dreadfully familiar, from curbing the number of homicides, drug overdoses and tents on the streets to spurring transportation improvements and building more affordable housing .