Some Reasons To Celebrate | Election Analysis

The election results are in from yesterday’s May 21 primary election and East County has some reason to celebrate! The candidates and ballot measure issues East County Rising Action Fund championed came out as big winners! Of the 14 candidate races East County Rising Action Fund endorsed in, 11 won or are headed to a run off, and history was made in several races. We also supported 4 local ballot measures that were all passed by voters – funding teachers, urban flood districts, the Oregon Zoo, and first responder services in Gresham. 

All of the ballot measures we endorsed passed handily, most notably the Gresham Safety Levy, which ECR worked hard to pass. The first tax levy to pass in Gresham in decades, this 5-year levy retains an average of 30 public safety positions per year and funds 13 more firefighter positions and 9 more police officer positions, leading to quicker response times and a safer community. 

Other measures that passed included the Portland Gas Tax Renewal, which provides much-needed funds to fix our streets, the Portland Public Schools Teachers Levy Renewal, which will fund 660 teaching positions in our state’s largest school district, and the Metro Oregon Zoo Bond renewal to upgrade facilities at this regional economic attraction. 

Multnomah County District 4 is a pivotal seat that represents much of East Portland and all the communities in East County, from Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, Wood Village stretching all the way to Corbett and the county line. East County Rising is thrilled to help send Vince Jones Dixon, a current Gresham City Councilor, to the Multnomah County Commission, to succeed longtime Commissioner Lori Stegmann, who is termed out. We look forward to many years of collaboration with Vince!

While Shannon Singleton placed first in her run for Multnomah County Commission District 2, she did not win a majority and will be advancing to a runoff in the November election against scandal-ridden former elected Sam Adams.

Portland voters continued to make history by electing Rep. Khanh Pham to the Oregon State Senate, marking her the first Vietnamese American to serve in the Oregon Senate, and the chamber’s only Asian American member currently. To replace her in the Oregon House, voters chose public defender Willy Chotzen to be the Democratic nominee for House District 46. With no Republican filed in this race, Willy will be the next state representative for SE Portland. East County Rising is looking forward to working with our legislative partners to direct needed investments to East County, to help our communities thrive.

In the state legislature, we will continue to enjoy solid leadership and collaboration with incumbent State Rep. Thuy Tran and Rep. Andrea Valderrama, alongside Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang. Long-time East County Rising collaborators Rep. Hoa Nguyen, Rep. Ricki Ruiz, Rep. Zach Hudson, and Sen. Chris Gorsek will see highly competitive races come November, but we’re confident, with some good organizing, our East County communities will return these champions for the area back to Salem.

It was a great night for ECR and for the region, but our work doesn’t stop in May! 

Unfinished Business for November 2024

In a night of historic firsts, unfortunately some of our endorsed candidates were unable to reach their goals. 

Our East County Rising founder and longtime organizer in East County, Eddy Morales did not win the Democratic nomination for Congressional District 3. When out-of-state dark money flooded into Portland – more than $2 million to prop up a candidate who did not live in the district and more than $3 million to attack her opponents with false and misleading claims – it’s hard to feel like the voters of Congressional District 3 picked their member of Congress, who will be represented by Rep. Maxine Dexter starting January 2025. Our local democracy has lost and voters lose out when that amount of hard-to-trace money corrupts our Oregon elections and makes constituents wonder whose interests are prioritized by our Member of Congress. Despite it all, we’re so proud of Eddy for his run and are comforted knowing he’ll continue to be a strong voice on Gresham City Council. 

We also saw the national trend of backlash toward progressive reform in the criminal legal system come to Oregon, with the defeat of current Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt. DA Schmidt will serve out the remainder of 2024 and be replaced by Nathan Vazquez, a prosecutor favored and funded by some of Portland’s wealthiest real estate developers and Trump’s donors with ties to extremists like the Proud Boys and Q Anon. 

In the Secretary of State race, we applaud State Sen. James Manning, Jr. who lost a competitive race to outgoing State Treasurer Tobias Read. Sen. Manning, Jr. has a decorated career in public service and will remain a strong progressive voice in the Oregon Senate for the communities in Eugene. We are excited for future opportunities to protect our democracy and elections. Speaking of democracy, we’ll also note that this May Primary will be the last of its kind for East County: starting in 2026, elected officials at the Multnomah County government level (District Attorney, County Commission, County Auditor) will be elected in November elections using ranked choice voting. This means that low turnout May elections won’t affect county races, when only 25-35% of voters weigh in on the region’s representation.  

We will continue fighting for our champions for change as we move toward November by supporting Shannon Singleton and Vince Jones Dixon for Multnomah County Commission, as well as competitive general election battles for Rep. Hoa Nguyen, Rep. Ricki Ruiz, Rep. Zach Hudson, and Sen. Chris Gorsek.

All together ECR’s field team knocked on more than 5,000 doors and sent more than 6,000 texts in support of our candidates, working alongside partners, candidates’ campaigns, and volunteers amid a difficult election year.

The May primary is complete, and now we rest, plan, and prepare for the November 2024 General Election. We would love for you to get involved in our c4 political work for the important election fights ahead! If you are interested, please contact Billy Fish, ECR’s Field Manager, at billy@eastcountyrisingaction.org.

Thanks as always for your support!