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Portland elections for the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists labor union were unusually contentious this year.
A slate of five candidates, branding themselves #PortlandComeback, campaigned for leadership positions in the local chapter of the actors’ union. This raised some eyebrows, as one of them was Mary McDonald-Lewis, known in the industry as “Mary Mac,” who has been vocal against gender transitions on social media (“Mary Mac Is Back, Back, Back,” Aug. 13).
Results are in and Mary Mac is out: She lost her bid for a two-year term on the local board. McDonald-Lewis still has half of her four-year term left as Portland’s national board representative, which she says she plans to serve.
“I’m a fierce defender of our democracy, and as such, despite being disappointed about the #PortlandComeback team’s loss, I’ll respect the results once all ballot-count and election concerns have been satisfied,” McDonald-Lewis emailed WW. (McDonald-Lewis’ election concerns are “many and various,” she says, and she has submitted them to SAG-AFTRA National and the U.S. Department of Labor for investigation.)
McDonald-Lewis was in the news in February, when Milagro Theatre canceled her run of The Macbeths after seeing McDonald-Lewis disparaging gender transitions on social media. She moved to North Carolina after the kerfuffle and changed her X profile’s bio to read “cancelled & doxed for defending women’s rights in Portland.”
None of the five #PortlandComeback candidates won their elections. Michelle Damis beat Adam Dunlap for president with 117 votes to his 82.
“I am pleased to continue to represent the SAG-AFTRA members of Oregon and Southwest Washington as their president,” Damis says. “It was unfortunate that the campaigning for a volunteer office was so contentious, and I truly hope this type of behavior does not dissuade others from choosing union service in the future.”
