# 2020 Portland, Oregon mayoral election

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vte :
On May 19, 2020, and November 3, 2020, elections were held in Portland, Oregon, to elect the mayor.
In Portland local elections, all voters are eligible to participate. All candidates are listed on the ballot without any political party affiliation. All candidates meeting the qualifications competed in a blanket primary election on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. As no candidate received an absolute majority, a runoff election between the top two candidates was scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Voters could also choose to write-in candidates.
In the general election, Portland voters also elected members of their City Commission and voted on local ballot initiatives.

## Candidates
### Candidates who advanced to runoff

| Candidate | Experience | Announced |
| The following candidates advanced to the runoff election on April 2 ||||
| Ted Wheeler | 53rd Mayor of Portland, Oregon Former Oregon State Treasurer | October 14, 2019 |
| Sarah Iannarone | Community Activist Urban Policy Consultant | July 9, 2019 |

### Candidates eliminated in the first round

| Candidate | Experience | Announced |
| The following candidates were eliminated in the first round and did not advance to the runoff election ||||
| Teressa Raiford | Founder of Don't Shoot Portland | December 3, 2017 |
| Bruce Broussard | Host of Oregon Voter Digest on PBS | November 13, 2018 |
| Ozzie Gonzalez | Architect and Sustainability Consultant | December 12, 2019 |
| Piper Crowell | Director of Global Digital and Innovation Policy at Nike, Inc. | February 12, 2020 Suspended campaign March 25, 2020 |
| Randy Rapaport | Real Estate Developer Educational Psychologist | March 10, 2020 |
| Mark White | Co-chair of the Portland City Charter Commission | January 30, 2020 |
| Cash Carter | Former Portland Timbers team chef | November 18, 2019 |

#### Candidates who received fewer than 1,000 votes

* Willie Banks, community advocate
* Jarred Bepristis, bartender
* Daniel Hoffman, homeless rights activist
* Lew Humble, retired mechanic, perennial candidate
* Michael Jenkins, cannabis grower
* Sharon Joy, retired community advocate
* Floyd LaBar, yoga teacher
* Beryl McNair, retired Federal government employee, candidate for Portland Mayor in 2008
* Michael O'Callaghan, homeless rights activist and candidate for Alaska governor in 1990
* Mark White, program manager
* Michael Burleson, community leader, activist, attorney at law (Suspended)

### Declined to run

* Diego Hernandez, representative for Oregon's 47th House district
* Jessica Vega Pederson, Multnomah County commissioner

## Endorsements

Organizations
* Basic Rights Oregon
* Northwest Oregon Labor Council
* UFCW Local 555
Newspapers
* Willamette Week
National
* Bernie Sanders, US Senator from Vermont
Local
* Karin Power, State Representative for District 41
* Jo Ann Hardesty, Portland City Commissioner
* Bruce Broussard, former candidate for Portland mayor
Newspapers
* Portland Mercury
Organizations
* Basic Rights Oregon
* Oregon Progressive Party
* Our Revolution
* Gravel Institute
Organizations
* Basic Rights Oregon

## Polling
### Runoff

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ted Wheeler | Sarah Iannarone | Write In | Undecided |
| DHM Research/OPB | October 7–11, 2020 | 400 (LV) | ±4.9% | 33% | 34% | 6% | 28% |
| DHM Research/Portland Business Alliance | September 17–22, 2020 | – (LV) | ±4% | 30% | 41% | 16% | 13% |
| Public Policy Polling | June 17–18, 2020 | 992 (V) | ±3.1% | 33% | 32% | – | 35% |

## Results
### Primary

Portland mayoral primary election, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisan | Ted Wheeler (incumbent) | 107,241 | 49.29% |
| | Nonpartisan | Sarah Iannarone | 51,849 | 23.82% |
| | Nonpartisan | Teressa Raiford | 18,310 | 8.40% |
| | Nonpartisan | Ozzie González | 12,632 | 5.80% |
| | Nonpartisan | Bruce Broussard | 11,336 | 5.20% |
| | Nonpartisan | Randy Rapaport | 3,816 | 1.75% |
| | Nonpartisan | Piper Crowell | 3,272 | 1.50% |
| | Nonpartisan | Mark White | 2,308 | 1.06% |
| | Nonpartisan | Cash Carter | 1,488 | 0.68% |
| | Nonpartisan | Sharon Joy | 901 | 0.42% |
| | Nonpartisan | Willie Banks | 789 | 0.36% |
| | Nonpartisan | Daniel Hoffman | 702 | 0.32% |
| | Nonpartisan | Michael O'Callaghan | 629 | 0.29% |
| | Nonpartisan | Michael Burleson | 406 | 0.19% |
| | Nonpartisan | Lew Humble | 299 | 0.14% |
| | Nonpartisan | Michael Jenkins | 262 | 0.12% |
| | Nonpartisan | Beryl McNair | 259 | 0.12% |
| | Nonpartisan | Jarred Bepristis | 105 | 0.05% |
| | Nonpartisan | Floyd LaBar | 95 | 0.04% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 861 | 0.40% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 217,560 | 100.00% |

### Runoff

Since no candidate received a simple majority (50% plus one) vote in the primary election, the two candidates who received the most votes (Wheeler and Iannarone) ran again in the general election on November 3, 2020. Iannarone, who had finished third in the 2016 mayoral election, was campaigning on a progressive platform emphasizing urbanism and taking a stronger stand against police violence.
The police murder of George Floyd and resulting protests occurred only two weeks after the first round of the mayoral election, and led to significant protest activity in Portland that continued throughout 2020. These events led supporters of third-place candidate Teressa Raiford to begin mounting a write-in campaign on her behalf, arguing that she more authentically represented the energy of the street protests.
Wheeler won the election, becoming Portland's first mayor to win a second consecutive term since Vera Katz left office in 2005. Ultimately, almost 48,000 write-in votes were cast in the election, far exceeding Wheeler's approximately 20,000-vote margin of victory.
Portland mayoral general election, 2020 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Nonpartisan | Ted Wheeler (incumbent) | 167,260 | 46.07% |
| | Nonpartisan | Sarah Iannarone | 147,964 | 40.76% |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 47,832 | 13.17% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 363,056 | 100.00% |