Portland city council candidates decry outside spending in local races

A Portland city council candidate is calling for reforms to local clean election rules after the National Association of Realtors spent more than $40,000 to boost two of his opponents. The group also spent about $13,000 to support two council candidates in the city's 2nd district.

Clean election candidates receive public funding based on the number of small dollar donations they receive from registered voters in their district.

Outside spending is not illegal, but at-large council candidate Ben Grant said it creates an uneven playing field.

"My point is not that anything improper has been done. It's just violates the spirit of the law," Grant said.

To make the system more transparent, Grant said outside groups should have to report expenditures immediately, and that additional public funding should be made available to clean election candidates who don't benefit from outside support.

Jake Viola and Brandon Mazer, the two at-large council candidates supported by the realtors group, both said they had no advance notice of the expenditures.

If elected, Viola said he'd propose a ban on this type of outside spending. Mazer said that while he's disappointed by outside influence, the Supreme Court decision in the landmark election financing case Citizens United would likely preclude a local ban on such expenditures.