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City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and Seth Woolley, a good government activist and computer engineer who is challenging her, have now both joined the list of those qualifying for public financing under the city's new Open and Accountable Elections program.
Eudaly, who didn't file to be eligible for the money until the Jan. 15 deadline, gathered contributions from 250 supporters very quickly. Mingus Mapps, the former political science professor who is also challenging Eudaly, qualified for public funds earlier, while former Mayor Sam Adams, who is also in the race for Eudaly's seat, has turned in the names of his supporters and is awaiting verification from the Open and Accountable Elections program.
There are now seven candidates who have qualified for public money—and seven more hoping to qualify for public financing in the race to succeed the late City Commissioner Nick Fish, who died in office Jan. 2. Those candidates have until Feb. 7 to gather contributions from 250 supporters each. (In the mayor's race, Sarah Iannarone met the higher threshold for that office of 500 supporters. She is now eligible for a 6-to-1 match that will allow her to spend up to $380,000, while the candidates in races for city commissioner races are also eligible for 6-to-1 matches but can only spend $250,000.)
As Oregon Public Broadcasting first reported, the number of candidates qualifying for public money is straining the program's budget. Susan Motett, the city's director of Open and Accountable Elections, says she is in the process of assuring candidates in the races for the three scheduled races—for mayor; to replace retiring Commissioner Amanda Fritz and for Eudaly's seat—that the city will have sufficient funds for them.
Mottet says it is still unclear whether the funding will be sufficient to fund all the candidates seeking to succeed Fish.
"We are waiting for data to see whether we have enough money for the special election," Mottet says. "We are waiting to see how many candidates qualify."
