Skip to main contentWe're just staggering back to life here at WW after a post-election soiree at nearby Joe's Cellar that lasted into the wee hours.
But I'd hate to deprive anybody about the insightful analysis we shared over a few pitchers, so here are some highlights as we pored over the local and state numbers:
1) There was general surprise that Washington County Commissioner Andy Duyck won the county chairman's race so easily over fellow Commissioner Dick Schouten. The win by the much more conservative Duyck runs counter to the narrative that Washington County has moved solidly over time into the more left-leaning column.
2) We were even more surprised that Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder ran third in Multnomah County in the race for Metro president. The fact that Burkholder was behind ex-Hillsboro Mayor Tom Hughes in Burkholder's home county was the death knell for Burkholder's campaign, which ended up with him not making the runoff this fall.
Instead, Hughes and Bob Stacey, whose lawn signs dotted my northeast Portland neighborhood and whose mailings inundated my home, will be in the hotly contested race this fall for Metro president. Wonder if the Photoshopped cover image below from our endorsements issue helped "introduce" Hughes, a Washington County guy, to those of in Multnomah County.
3) State Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo's re-election over Ron Maurer was much, much narrower than we expected.
4) We tried to remember if there's ever been a time in Oregon when two African-American candidates have been the only two contenders on the ballot for an office, which is what will happen this fall thanks to Karol Collymore (first in an eight-candidate field) and Loretta Smith (second) advancing in the Multnomah County commissioner's race to represent north and northeast Portland. We think this is a first.
5) And of course there's the most stunning result: that publicly financed City Council candidate Jesse Cornett did so poorly in his effort to get into a runoff this November with Commissioner Dan Saltzman. Our insta-postmortem on that effort is that Cornett spent too much on canvassers and not enough on traditional TV and radio ads. Also of note is that Cornett is the last example of publicly financed candidates that Portland voters will have on their minds when they're expected to consider this November whether to re-up public financing for city elections.
WWeek 2015