2024 Portland elections heat up as new council positions added to ballot

The Nov. 5 Portland general election will be the most hotly contested in city history. That is because of the Portland Charter reforms approved by city voters two years ago.

The City Council is being expanded from four members (plus the mayor) to 12 seats not counting the mayor), with three members to be elected in each of four new geographic districts across the city. The citywide mayor and city auditor will also be elected then.

There was no primary election — from now on, all positions will be filled by ranked-choice voting in the general election every even-numbered year. Ranked-choice voting allows voters to vote for more than one candidate by ranking them in order of preference.

Southwest Portland is now part of the new geographic District 4. It runs along the entire west side of the Willamette River, up to and including St. Johns, and parts of inner Southeast Portland.

Sixty candidates had filed for the 12 council seats as this issue went to press. Fifteen candidates had also qualified to fund their campaigns with the city’s Small Donor Election program, which uses public funds to match contributions to those who pledge to only accept under $350 in private donations.

“This is definitely a record for what I’ve seen in my time at the city,” Portland elections manager Deborah Scroggin told Oregon Public Broadcasting, a news partner of the Southwest Community Connection.

The filing deadline for all offices is Aug. 27. After that, Portland voters will likely elect a new government from the largest number of candidates in city history.

More information and the latest candidate filings can be found at portland.gov/elections.