Elect
Carmen Rubio for
City of Portland Mayor
Carmen Rubio
The next four years will be critical for Portland’s future as we transition to a new form of government with a 12-member city council, a new mayor, and a city manager.
Our city needs a Mayor who can unite us, make wise, effective decisions, and incorporate diverse voices. We need a thoughtful and assured leader who will work with the new city council to propel our city forward.
Carmen Rubio is that leader.
Carmen will bring joy back to our city because she loves Portland and is invested in its future. She has the skills and experience to bring us together and be a decisive leader without the chaos we see from other commissioners. She understands the new mayor has a unique opportunity to create a unified vision for our city and support the success of the new council and our new government structure.
Carmen is the leader Portland needs at this moment.
Experience: Carmen has quietly done big things as a Commissioner. She ended decades of disagreement by consolidating city permitting into a single office. This change, while deeply internal to the city’s operation, will make building housing faster and more affordable. Businesses and nonprofit housing leaders lauded her work.
She fought to expand and stabilize Portland Street Response, was pivotal in getting the Police Union to agree to body-worn cameras, and championed numerous legislation to catalyze housing production throughout Portland and office-to-housing conversion in the city’s downtown core. She also brings years of executive experience as the long-time executive director of Latino Network, growing that organization’s staff and budget many times over.
In short, Carmen quietly and efficiently gets stuff done.
Key endorsements: Governor Tina Kotek, former Governor Kate Brown, former Mayor Tom Potter, AFSCME Council 75 and Local 189, East County Rising, Liuna Local 737, Portland Teachers Association, and many more. See the full list here.
Portland for All’s endorsement committee included Moira Bowman, Sara Fischer, Stephen Gomez, Diane Goodwin, Luci Longoria, Andrés Oswill, and Jackie Yerby. The committee evaluated candidates based on our endorsement criteria.
Other candidates to rank
Keith Wilson
Keith is the president of a regional transportation company and a committed environmental advocate. His company has been lauded for its clean energy approach. His campaign focuses on tackling homelessness, reducing environmental impact, enhancing public safety, and revitalizing local government efficiency.
Keith is deeply committed to caring for Portlanders and has staked his mayoral run on moving unsheltered people into shelters. He brings compassion and a commitment to effective government, which is critical for the Mayor.
Our endorsement committee is concerned with whether his homelessness plan--creating nighttime shelters and forcing people back into the streets during the day--will do more harm than good. Local data has shown that congregate or group shelter spaces are the least effective at successfully moving people into stable housing. Also, women, LGBTQ people, people with children, and people with pets report they struggle to find safe spaces in group shelters. In addition, Keith has said that once enough overnight shelter beds are available, our city may enforce a camping ban and jail people who refuse nighttime shelter. We know criminalizing people for being houseless worsens the issue.
If Keith is elected, we remain hopeful that he will be open to addressing and fixing the shortcomings of his plan once he more clearly sees its barriers and challenges. This will require Keith to listen to key stakeholders and people with lived experience in making policy decisions.
Key endorsements include: Willamette Week, SEIU Local 49, Sunrise Movement PDX, Rep. Mark Gamba, Metro Councilor Ashton Simpson and UCFW Local 555.
Liv Østhus
Liv, known by her stage name Viva Las Vegas, is a writer, musician, actress, stripper, and activist. Her vision for the city centers on revitalizing small businesses and the arts scene, recentering Portland on its vibrant soul. With a focus on hope and inspiration, she offers a refreshing approach to leadership, emphasizing listening and connection over traditional politics.
Protecting, honoring, and listening to the climate is Liv’s top priority because, ultimately, every conversation—be it about housing justice, re-energizing creative communities, or empowering small businesses—has to begin and end with our beautiful planet. Her team will also drive improvement management, oversight, and transparency.
While used to being in the public square as an advocate for the arts and sex worker rights, Liv is new to politics and has brought a fresh, energetic voice to debates and candidate forums. Liv is unwavering in her critique of our carceral system and her call for concrete, compassionate, multi-agency solutions for Portlanders suffering on our streets.
Liv shares Portland for All’s mission of creating a Portland where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and can thrive. Her emphasis on centering those on the margins—artists and people living in extreme poverty—is an essential message for our times. Her repeated mission of “Listening, Connecting, and Collaborating” is an area where she has abundant experience and which will be vital for Portland’s next mayor.
Don’t Rank Rene Gonzalez for Mayor
There are other values aligned candidates running for Mayor—Rene Gonzalez is not one of them. He has lied to us, tried to dismantle and undermine Portland Street Response and the Portland Clean Energy Fund, and misused our burdened 911 to falsely accuse a Black woman of assaulting him on the MAX light rail system.
To learn more, visit DontRankRene.org.