Voters Return Amy Kohnstamm to Portland School Board, Along With a Slate of New Faces

Kohnstamm, Andrew Scott, Michelle DePass and Eilidh Lowery are breezing to seats on the school board.

Jefferson High School. (Joe Riedl)
By Aaron Mesh

Portland voters elected a new slate of officials to the Portland Public Schools board—along with one incumbent, Amy Kohnstamm.

Early returns showed Kohnstamm, Andrew Scott, Michelle DePass and Eilidh Lowery breezing to seats on the school board. None of the races were within 10 percentage points.

This May's election was a low-intensity affair, but it did offer voters an opportunity to remodel a School Board in the midst of several high-profile struggles, including the recent revelation that the $790 million construction bond approved by voters in 2016 was $200 million short of meeting its promised projects.

Much of the attention for that fiasco fell on Kohnstamm, who championed the bond. She was the only incumbent on the ballot.

But voters did not appear energized. At 5:30 pm today, Multnomah County turnout stood at 14.2 percent.

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