Why Beaverton picked a fight with Ted Cruz

Beaverton Fighting U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s Anti-Trans Ad

The Beaverton School District has asked Texas’ U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz to take down campaign ads over his use of students’ images to attack his opponents’ support for trans rights. Although the ads imply otherwise, neither of the Oregon athletes featured in the ad are trans. [The Hill]

PPS Enrollment Slips

Portland Public School enrollment has been in decline since the pandemic, and official numbers for the 2024-25 school year are out: the district lost another 600+ students, slightly more than projected. That’s significant in that the district’s funding is tied to how many students enroll, but it also tracks a national trend. [Willamette Week]

Mayoral Candidate Liv Osthus

Liv Osthus — aka Viva Las Vegas — is an iconic Portland stripper, an outspoken sex workers’ advocate, and a published author who has been a fixture in the local music and art scenes. She’s also a candidate for Portland mayor. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Long-neglected and underrepresented, East Portland was a key inspiration for the city’s change of government that’s now underway. On Election Day — just eight days away — East Portland voters will pick three candidates to represent their interests at City Hall for the first time. Geographic representation (with three City Councilors from each of the city’s four new districts) is a particularly dramatic change for District 1: In more than 30 years, just two members of City Council have lived east of 82nd Avenue.

District 1 voters may be particularly focused on picking candidates who are good at getting things done — rather than for their political ideologies.

“Both a challenge and a promise for these candidates is that they’re probably dealing with some of the most disillusioned voters,” Maja Viklands Harris, from the voter education nonprofit Rose City Reform, tells the City Cast Portland podcast.

But candidates can also be distinguished by their views, which skew to the left like most of Portland, but range from progressive to moderate, notes Viklands Harris. (Endorsements are a good way of distinguishing them on that scale.)

In this nonpartisan race, these are the seven candidates who qualified for the city’s campaign donation matches (listed in order of the number of donors, as of Oct. 25):

🗳️ Who’s on the ballot:

🟢 Steph Routh (1,760 donors)

Transportation and sustainability advocate

🥇 Sample endorsements:

• Organizations: NW Oregon Labor Council, Basic Rights Oregon, APANO [Rose City Reform]
• Newspapers: Willamette Week

🗞️ Further reading:

• Rose City Reform’s profile
• Willamette Week’s entrance interview

🟢 Candace Avalos (1,249 donors)

Executive director of environmental advocacy nonprofit Verde

🥇 Sample endorsements:

• Organizations: NW Oregon Labor Council, Basic Rights Oregon, APANO [Rose City Reform]
• Newspapers: Portland Mercury, Oregonian, Willamette Week

🗞️ Further reading:

• Rose City Reform’s profile
• Willamette Week’s entrance interview

🟢 Timur Ender (1,056 donors)

Attorney and urban planning professional

🥇 Sample endorsements:

• Organizations: IBEW Local 48, APANO, Sierra Club [Rose City Reform]
• Newspapers: Portland Mercury

🗞️ Further reading:

• Rose City Reform’s profile
• Willamette Week’s entrance interview

🟢 Jamie Dunphy (953 donors)

MusicPortland board member and former City Hall staffer

🥇 Sample endorsements:

• Organizations: Columbia Pacific Building and Construction Trades Council, Sierra Club, Moms Demand Action [Rose City Reform]
• Newspapers: Willamette Week

🗞️ Further reading:

• Rose City Reform’s profile
• Willamette Week’s entrance interview

🟢 Terrence Hayes (620 donors)

President of the graffiti removal company Restore Nuisance Abatement

🥇 Sample endorsements:

• Organizations: Portland Police Association, Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors, Multnomah County Republican Party [Rose City Reform]
• Newspapers: Oregonian

🗞️ Further reading:

• Rose City Reform’s profile
• Willamette Week’s entrance interview

🟢 Loretta Smith (427 donors)

former Multnomah County commissioner

🥇 Sample endorsements:

• Organizations: Portland Police Association, Multifamily NW, Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors [Rose City Reform]

🗞️ Further reading:

• Rose City Reform’s profile
• KOIN’s candidate questionnaire

🟢 Noah Ernst (407 donors)

Superintendent and in-house counsel for the taxi company Radio Cab

🥇 Sample endorsements:

• Organizations: Multnomah County Deputy Sheriffs Association, Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors, Multnomah County Republican Party [Rose City Reform]
• Newspapers: Oregonian

🗞️ Further reading:

• Rose City Reform’s profile
• KOIN’s candidate questionnaire

For more on the local election, check out the Hey Portland guide to the fall elections (online).