Skip to main content
The Portland City Council will elect one of its members Wednesday to serve as council president for the duration of 2026 as the council enters its second year of governance.
The incumbent, Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, is running for reelection. And although she’ll likely face at least one challenger from the city’s progressive caucus (aka “Peacock”), none of the six has formally announced intentions to run.
It’s been a rocky first year for the 12-member council, which is the first elected body under the city’s new form of government thanks to a sweeping charter reform measure passed by voters in 2022. The council has sought to find its footing amid unclear separation of powers among the executive, administrative and legislative branches; hard feelings that developed between the administration and the council during a contentious budget season; threats of federal funding drying up; and heated disputes on the dais about homelessness, shelters and the council’s priorities.
Similarly, Pirtle-Guiney had a difficult first year as council president. She’s spent most of it trying to tame the council’s internal disputes and the tension between the administration and the council over information sharing. She’s also spent much of her time trying to corral a council that’s disagreed about procedure almost every step of the way.
As the council’s divisions hardened over the course of the first year into two clear voting blocs, the progressive caucus began to view Pirtle-Guiney as part of the centrist bloc. So whether Pirtle-Guiney will retain the seat is top of mind for both her and Peacock.
Perhaps what best demonstrates the difficulty of the president’s job is that both Peacock and the moderate bloc have complaints about Pirtle-Guiney’s leadership. The primary complaint from the moderate side is that Pirtle-Guiney gave committee chair positions to four Peacock members, all of whom voted against her presidency nine times, save for Councilor Mitch Green, who on the 10th vote broke with his caucus and secured her the presidency.
“Structurally, this council has basically spent a year dealing with Peacock’s stuff because they have chairmanships and majorities on these committees,” centrist Councilor Eric Zimmerman said in an October interview with WW. In other words: Pirtle-Guiney hasn’t reined in Peacock’s clout.
Pirtle-Guiney, who is careful about maintaining decorum from the dais and even during her campaign emphasized her desire to establish a council that would be taken seriously by the public, pointedly told WW last fall that the council voted 12-0 on committee composition. Regarding the more recent debate about eliminating some committees—one proposal would have eliminated three with non-Peacock chairs—Pirtle-Guiney said: “When you are debating limiting the number of committees and gavels, there are always going to be frustrations because everybody’s worried that they’re the one that’s going to lose power.”
Members of the council’s progressive caucus have complaints, too.
Frank feelings about Pirtle-Guiney’s leadership of the council were aired sporadically in a text message thread among Peacock members throughout the spring and summer. Councilors wrote that she favored amendments by centrist councilors over Peacock councilors, especially in her president’s package of amendments. (It was defeated.) In one April text, Councilor Candace Avalos wrote in the chat: “inconsistent use of her council pres powers. just another day at portland city council lmao.”
The primary complaint from Peacock members, based on WW’s conversations in October with five of the six caucus members, remains the same: Pirtle-Guiney is deferential to non-Peacocks. Most declined to share their thoughts on the record, though, speaking only on background at the time.
A candidate must receive seven votes to be elected president.
The council will also vote Wednesday on a vice president. Currently that post is held by Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane, a member of Peacock who at times this year has clashed with Pirtle-Guiney both on and off the dais.
