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The latest campaign finance reports for Portland mayoral candidate Jules Bailey reveal the Multnomah County commissioner is accepting more money than his self-imposed cap of $250 from individuals—when those individuals also give in the names of their businesses.
Bailey pledged when he launched his campaign Jan. 9 to accept no more than $250 from individuals or individual organizations.
But new campaign records show Bailey recently accepted $250 each from three companies that operate under the same umbrella—Miller Family Holdings, 3 Brothers Restaurants and Miller Qualified Investments. All are operated by Mark J. Miller. Miller's companies are based in Portland, but he lives in Idaho with his wife, Jennifer, who also gave $250.
Separately, Robert Miller of Portland gave Bailey $250, as did his company, Trailblazer Food, and his wife, Lynn.
It's not unusual for candidates who impose campaign contribution caps to accept the maximum donations from each spouse. Rarely if ever does that raise an eyebrow.
But accepting contributions from individual businesses controlled by the same person has echoes of Mayor Charlie Hales' squishy campaign pledges. In 2012, Hales also went around his own campaign caps by, for example, taking $600 each from developer Dike Dame, Dame's wife, Dame's business and Dame's horse farm in Yachats.
Bailey's campaign manager, Christine Lewis, defended Bailey's contributions.
"Our campaign has said from the beginning that we only accept contributions no greater than $250 per person/organization," she wrote in a statement. "We are proud to have the support of local small businesses. Not every small business is the same as the owner, and similarly partners who are married may give independently. Jules is proud to be the only candidate in the race to have limited campaign contributions."
Bailey has so far reported $42,000 in contributions in 2016. Opponent Ted Wheeler, Oregon's treasurer, has no campaign contribution limits in place. He's reported $116,000 in 2016 and $324,000 in 2015. He announced his bid in September, four months before Bailey.
Willamette Week