East Portland City Council race too close to call

The Portland City Council District 1 race in east Portland remained too close to call based on preliminary election results Tuesday night.

With 16 candidates running for three spots, nonprofit director Candace Avalos took the lead in preliminary rounds of ranked-choice voting, with former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith in second and American Cancer Society local advocacy director Jamie Dunphy in third.

Four other candidates — lawyer Noah Ernst , small business owner Terrence Hayes , transportation advocate Timur Ender and urban planner Steph Routh — came close behind, in that order.

Votes will continue to be tabulated Wednesday and beyond, and results are likely to change, based on how voters who waited until Election Day to turn in or mail ballots ranked the candidates.

Elections officials estimated that more than half of votes cast in Multnomah County may still remain to be counted, based on an anticipated turnout of about 80%. Just 38% of Multnomah voters' ballots had been counted as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

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Each of the city's four districts will elect three people to an expanded City Council. To win, each candidate must surpass 25% of their district's votes in ranked-choice rounds. Under the new voting system, candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated one by one and their votes reallocated to supporters' next viable choices until all the winners are declared.

In Portland's reformed system of government , the mayor will serve as a tie-breaker for the expanded 12-person council but will lack a veto, bolstering the council's power to steer the city.

The preliminary results suggest a group of candidates with diverse political views are within striking distance of becoming District 1's first representatives in this system.

Avalos, a Mill Park resident and the leader of environmental justice group Verde, ran her campaign on a progressive platform. Smith, by contrast, received an endorsement from the Portland Police Association and made public safety a cornerstone of her campaign.

Dunphy positioned himself between them, becoming an outspoken proponent for small business, vibrant public spaces and the city's music scene.

District 1, which spans from Interstate 205 to Portland's eastern edge, is the city's poorest and most racially diverse.

With only 53% white residents, District 1 has Asian, Black and Latino populations that all exceed 10%. Its median household income, about $61,000 a year, is lower than any of the other council districts', and it has the highest percentage of residents living in households with an income below the poverty line, at 16%.

Many in the district have expressed deep frustration with the city. District 1 experiences the highest concentration of shootings and traffic deaths and has the lowest share of sidewalks, paved streets and trees.

As a result, questions of safety and livability dominated the campaign for City Council, though candidates largely carved out two distinct visions to address the district's problems.

Like Avalos, Routh and Ender staked progressive lanes in the race. All three outraised their opponents, launching determined campaigns despite the district's support for law-and-order candidates in recent races.

Another three candidates focused their campaigns on increased policing, safety and livability: Smith, Ernst and Hayes. Dunphy straddled the line between the two groups.

Those seven qualified to receive public small donor matching campaign funds from the city, while their other nine opponents trailed behind. Routh, with $200,000, Ender with $146,000 and Avalos, with $136,000, were the only candidates to break $100,000.

The district has long been underrepresented in city government: Only two commissioners historically lived east of Interstate 205 when they were elected. With a guaranteed three seats on the new council, many candidates expressed hope that, at last, the area's neglect will come to an end.