Updated: Aug. 7
This page will be updated as new candidates file for election.
Thanks to a charter reform measure passed by voters in 2022, Portland is getting a new form of government, and it will come with a brand new districting system. In November 2024, Portlanders will vote for City Council members in one of four districts across the city, with three councilors per district.
Councilors in District 4 will serve two-year terms following the initial election in November, then four-year terms each subsequent election.
Here’s who’s running in District 4, which includes all of Portland’s west side and the Southeast neighborhoods of Reed, Woodstock, and Sellwood-Moreland. (Find the list of candidates in District 1 here, District 2 here, and District 3 here.)
District 4 Candidates
Eli Arnold
Arnold is a police officer with the Portland Police Bureau who lives in Sellwood with his family, including four children. He previously served in the Army, working as a helicopter pilot during two deployments to Afghanistan.
Arnold, 43, primarily works downtown, where he says he confronts the city’s most pressing issues daily.
“I’ve been dealing with the growth of homelessness, the spike in homicides, the rise of fentanyl, and the frustrations of community members on a daily basis,” Arnold says. “I’ve been very frustrated by the lack of action from City Hall. I’m convinced that we can begin making meaningful progress right away so long as we are hands-on, pragmatic, and maintain our sense of urgency. I believe my first hand experience with these problems is unique and will supplement those with more legislative backgrounds well. What the city has tried has often suffered from a lack of understanding of the realities at the street level.”
Arnold says he started a community garden program before leaving the military and found a calling in police work.
“In the aftermath of Ferguson I decided that policing is important work and it needs to be done right,” Arnold says.
This is his first bid for public office.
Patrick Cashman– information to come.
Olivia Clark
Olivia Clark lives in John’s Landing and is running in District 4. Clark, 69, comes with a background in government–predominantly public affairs–and nonprofit development.
Clark previously worked as a legislative director for Gov. John Kitzhaber and has also worked for TriMet to help develop funds for light rail lines.
Clark said she’s running for City Council because she values public service and wants to “make life better and safer for everyone who lives in Portland.
“I understand how policy is made and how to get things done,” Clark says, pointing to her experience in government affairs with the governor’s office TriMet, and the Department of Environmental Quality, as well as a slew of volunteer boards and commissions, including the Community Shelter & Assistance Corp, cleanup organization SOLV, and Oregon Providence Health Care.
Like many candidates, Clark cites safety and livability as top priorities.
“I want to make our city work for everyone, and our city council work together to get things done,” Clark says. “I want to bring back the city we love and can be proud of — a city where we can walk downtown without fear. A city where our emergency services are strong and our businesses thrive. A city where all citizens have a place to call home. A city where a 911 call brings immediate help. I am an optimist. I believe that if we work together we can get things done.”
Mike DiNapoli
Mike DiNapoli lives in Southwest Portland’s Goose Hollow neighborhood and is a self-described “pro-worker, pro-affordability and pro-safe communities candidate.”
DiNapoli, 45, is a lifelong Portlander who says the new charter changes sparked his decision to run for office. He prioritizes working class families and affordability, noting, “living wage jobs are what build healthy communities, families and businesses.”
He also says the city is due for a more urgent, hands-on approach to revitalization.
“As a working-class contractor, audio-video production engineer and small business owner, I firmly believe in problem-solving as a way of getting things done,” DiNapoli says. “I’m a tradesperson, family man, and committed Portlander who is invested in this city that I call home. What I hope to bring to the City Council is common sense and reason as an approach to the policy work ahead, with the intention of being effective and productive. We need to be focused on revitalizing the city as a matter of urgency and need a council that is ready to work together and stand by its duty to provide a safe and functioning city that works for everyone.”
This is DiNapoli’s first run for political office.
Thomas Dodson
Thomas Dodson is a longtime resident of Forest Heights in Portland’s west hills. Dodson, a forensic psychiatrist, maintained a private practice in general and forensic psychiatry until retiring two years ago. Prior to opening his own practice in the Goose Hollow neighborhood, he worked at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center’s inpatient psychiatry unit for several years.
He’s not interested in waxing poetic about all the city’s problems and potential solutions. Instead, he wants to see the city take a new direction when it comes to addressing the acute behavioral health needs of Portland’s residents, and the options for connecting them with treatment.
Dodson says his background in psychiatry gives him unique insight and perspective in this realm.
“I am running this campaign to introduce the prospect of shifting the civil commitment process to a temporary substituted judgement standard,” Dodson tells the Mercury, noting local government leaders could explore “a better way of managing the liberty interests of the seriously mentally ill and the rights of Portlanders to a civil, beautiful, and functional city.”
The civil commitment process in Oregon typically involves a judicial determination about whether a person with severe mental illness can be involuntarily put in an inpatient treatment facility.
“I feel I could be an effective person to first understand the cities major current problems and to work judiciously toward substantive remedies,” Dodson adds.
Brandon Farley
Brandon Farley is a self-described independent photo journalist. He lists himself as unemployed on campaign paperwork and doesn’t have a campaign website or any prior experience in government.
An anomaly in the local political arena, Farley espouses far-right views, speaks out against transgender people, and staunchly opposes progressive policies.
His most notable presence in Portland is on social media, where he frequently demonizes unhoused people, rails against protesters, and depicts Portland as a wasteland.
Farley wants to “Make Portland Great Again” and aims to “combat far-left lunacy in gov.”
Lisa Freeman
Lisa Freeman is a former Peace Corps volunteer with a robust background in conflict resolution, international peace and government transitions. Up until recently, she worked for the city.
Freeman holds a masters degree in international peace and conflict resolution and previously worked in the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) at the US Agency for International Development.
“I worked with OTI for 10 years, getting my start in Kandahar, Afghanistan, helping governments and communities rebuild after Taliban rule,” Freeman says. “I worked to support opposition leaders in northern Syria to shift from being the opposition, to governing and providing services like rubble removal and solid waste management. I partnered with local government leaders in North East Nigeria to improve government responsiveness to communities in the face of the Boko Haram threat. I worked in over a dozen other countries as well, like Bosnia, Pakistan, and Malaysia. I know how to work in transition and crisis.”
She lists housing and homelessness, climate, and transportation as her central areas of focus. Freeman also cites public safety and a successful city government transition as priorities.
Freeman says the city needs “stable, experienced and collaborative leadership.”
In 2022, she joined the city’s Community Safety Division, working on gun violence reduction initiatives. She now works as an instructor at Rose City Self Defense- a community funded, free program that teaches women, girls and LGBTQ residents the basics of self-defense tactics.
Outside of work, she’s championed programs like Portland Street Response, in hopes of fixing strains on the city’s first response system. She also volunteers with SW Outreach, a volunteer group serving Southwest Portland’s homeless population.
Freeman says she’s running for office “because this is the moment my skills and experience matter most for Portland.”
“By prioritizing community-based responses and investing in programs that tackle root causes, we can promote equity, justice, and public safety,” she says.
Kevin Goldsmith
Kevin Goldsmith is an engineering consultant with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
More information to come
Mitch Green
Mitch Green, 42, lives in the West Portland Park neighborhood on the city’s west side. Green has a PhD in economics from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and currently works as an economist at Bonneville Power Administration. He’s also served as a part-time instructor at Portland State University (where he earned an undergraduate degree) and most recently, Portland Community College.
Before going to grad school, he served in the Army shortly after 9/11, deploying to Afghanistan with the 364th Civil Affairs Brigade.
Green grew up in Portland and Southwest Washington. He says a confluence of issues impacting Portland spurred his decision to run for City Council.
“I think the triple crises of the pandemic, climate change and economic inequality sharpened in me the urgency to take a more direct and active role in municipal politics, where previously I have organized through campaigns behind the scenes,” Green tells the Mercury. “Charter reform made it possible for a working class person like me to actually run.”
Green supports many of Portland’s recent progressive social measures, saying the city needs to remember its core values.
“Like a lot of Portlanders I’m worried that the big, bold things we do in this town are at risk of being cut down early out of impatience and fear, precisely when we should be holding fast and nurturing them. I’m talking about things like Preschool for All, M110, a real commitment to solving the housing crisis, the Portland Clean Energy Fund and our transit and cycling infrastructure,” Green says. “I wanted to make sure that people living in District 4 who still believe in the Portland Idea – that we can fight to build things that make our lives better – have a voice and someone who will champion them.”
Green says the recent winter storm, which heavily impacted Southwest Portlanders with power outages “due to poor utility infrastructure” was the push he needed to enter the council race.
Chris Henry
Chris Henry is a perennial candidate who’s eager to break into politics. Henry is the current chair of Oregon’s Progressive Party and a former long-haul trucker. Most recently, Henry ran in the May 2024 Multnomah County Board of Commissioners race, but failed to secure enough votes to advance to the November run-off.
Henry vows to advocate for affordable housing, which he calls “a fundamental human right” as well as clean energy, and better bicycle and public transit infrastructure. He also stresses the need for a publicly-owned bank, a publicly-owned utility district (to circumvent repeated electricity rate hikes), and universal health care- policy areas that are typically not within the purview of city councilors.
Henry is staunchly pro-labor and pro-union, and advocates for making the rich pay their fair share.
To address Portland’s climate goals, Henry suggests the city requires all freight and delivery trucks be electric, with more investment in public charging infrastructure.
More info to come.
Ben Hufford
Architect and former adjunct university professor Ben Hufford says Portland is filled with good intentions but very little action.
Hufford’s most recognizable resume entry is his ownership of popular restaurants and bars, including Pizza Jerk, Victoria, Fortune and the Lightning Bar Collective, where he’s among several owners.
Hufford’s agenda includes investing in police, homeless shelters and addiction treatment centers, and cleaning up garbage and graffiti throughout the city. His priorities? Revitalize downtown, remove barriers to affordable housing development and quash ineffective, unaccountable government.
More information to come.
Chad Lykins
Chad Lykins, 42, lives in the Hayhurst neighborhood in Southwest Portland and is the founder of Rose City Chess, an after-school chess academy. He’s also the current president of the Oregon Scholastic Chess Federation. He has three children.
Lykins said he’s running to represent District 4 because Portland is at a pivotal moment.
“The eyes of the world are on Portland as a test case for everything from housing to climate policy to criminal justice reform,” Lykins said. “Our city can become a place in which homelessness is rare and brief, homes are affordable and abundant, treatment for substance abuse and mental health is widely accessible, and community safety is both a human right and a shared responsibility.”
Lykins, who has a doctorate in leadership and policy studies, as well as a master’s degree in philosophy, says he believes Portland can be “the proving ground for evidence-based solutions to public problems.”
Tony Morse
Tony Morse, 42, lives in Woodstock, near the District 4 boundary. Morse, a policy and advocacy director at Oregon Recovers, says addiction recovery is a hallmark of his campaign and policy priorities.
Morse, who has a diverse background in both law and real estate, said Portland needs “a champion for recovery.”
“We have an addiction crisis that impacts every part of daily life, from homelessness and community livability, to public safety and the reputation of our city,” Morse told the Mercury. “Portland needs someone with the lived experience and policy expertise necessary to help center and elevate recovery as we work to solve our city’s interconnected challenges.”
Morse previously worked as a field organizer for the Democratic Party of Oregon and was a real estate agent for eight years. He also worked in law, having served two and a half years as a judicial law clerk in Multnomah County Circuit Court and working with drug treatment courts.
“I grew passionate about the importance of good government in law school, and as an attorney I practiced complex civil litigation,” Morse noted.
Oregon State Bar records confirm Morse was admitted in 2008, but doesn’t currently practice law.
Despite having worked on several political campaigns, this is Morse’s first run for office.
Stanley Penkin
Stanley Penkin formerly served as chair of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association. Like most other candidates, he cites homelessness as a priority, but also leans heavily into livability, arts, and civic engagement.
Penkin has a masters degree in urban planning from Columbia University.
“We need to listen more, talk less and act decisively,” Penkin tells the Mercury, saying the new council should work collaboratively within city hall, as well as other government agencies, to get things done.
“No more silos,” Penkin says.
Penkin is currently retired, but has a civil engineering and planning background, as well as an extensive resume of nonprofit work.
“I have been active in many areas of civic life as a champion of neighborhood livability, leadership in the arts, serving on city advisory committees, my role in passing an ordinance to transition gas leaf blowers to electric, working on homelessness issues and connecting people to housing through my chairmanship of the nonprofit Home Share Oregon,” Penkin says. “Arts and culture will be a significant factor in building back the vibrancy of our city, and I want to bring my experience to that effort.”
Penkin co-founded the Oregon Arts and Culture PAC, with the mission of promoting candidates who support the arts, as well as increasing government funding for artistic endeavors.
He also served on the board of Portland Center Stage and is a previous board president of the Oregon Children’s Theater. Penkin also cites stints chairing the Arts Education and Access Fund Oversight Committee, and his work as a board member of the Cultural Advocacy Coalition, where he advocated for support of arts and culture at the state level.
Worth noting: Penkin gives his time to arts and cultural causes, but he gives his money to political causes and candidates. Penkin recently donated $250 each to the mayoral campaigns of Rene Gonzalez, Carmen Rubio, and Keith Wilson. Records show he donated to every current city commissioner and the mayor when they were running for office. Penkin also contributed to Portland Commissioner Dan Ryan’s current council campaign and supported Rubio and Gonzalez during their initial bids for Portland City Council in 2019 and 2022, respectively.
Moses Ross
Moses Ross lives in Southwest Portland’s Multnomah neighborhood, and chairs the Multnomah Neighborhood Association. He runs M.J. Ross Group Inc., a political consulting business that largely assists Democratic candidates.
A single father, Ross has volunteered with his local PTA and has been involved with Democratic Party organizing at the county and state level. Ross has served on the Multnomah County Community Budget Advisory Committee since 2018. Prior to that, he served on the county’s Charter Review Committee in 2015 and championed a county campaign finance reform measure that passed with overwhelming voter support.
In 2017, he ran for a seat on the Portland Community College Board, but lost to Valdez Bravo.
Ross says leading his neighborhood association gave him “a front-line seat to the impact of houselessness and the addiction crisis happening within Portland neighborhoods.”
“The quality of life in every neighborhood in District 4, as well as Citywide, has been affected in some way. I hear it every day,” Ross says. “Folks are frustrated with the City and they feel unheard and disrespected by our City leaders. I think we need to hold each other accountable and elections are how we do that.”
Ross said it’s no surprise Portlanders voted for a charter change that will reform the city’s governance.
“I’m running because I believe that we in Portland’s neighborhoods are the heart and soul of this city. We are alive and well, open for business and visitors. I want us to thrive and make sure this new City Council supports us. I KNOW that what is currently wrong with Portland can be corrected by all that is right with Portland.”
Sarah Silkie
Sarah Silkie hails from the Maplewood neighborhood in Southwest Portland. Silkie, 49, is an environmental engineer who grew up in Portland and now works for the city.
This is Silkie’s first run for political office. Silkie is currently part of the Oregon Labor Candidate School.
“I’m a middle-class working mom who grew up poor in Portland,” Silkie says. “I’ve experienced both sides, and now that I have stability, I want to give back to my community.”
Silkie says she’s eager to use her technical background and collaborative approach to help find solutions and shape sensible policy for Portland.
“With better management and authentic transparency, I know we can improve core city services and address issues like the housing shortage, fentanyl crisis and global warming,” Silkie says. “I’m a problem solver. I don’t just complain about problems; I find solutions that work. Portland is my home, and I want to make sure it’s a great place to live for everyone, both now and in the future.”
Jeremy Beausoleil Smith
Jeremy Beausoleil Smith, 27, lives downtown. Beausoleil Smith studied building construction at Virginia Tech and now works as a construction project manager at Portland State University.
He’s a recent transplant to Portland, moving to the Pacific Northwest from Washington, DC in 2021. Beausoleil Smith says he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2018.
“As a resident of Downtown Portland I see people in crisis every day and I think back to when I was wandering the streets of Washington DC disoriented, scared, and not knowing if I would ever be able to get my life back on track,” Beausoleil Smith says. “I empathize deeply with every Portlander who is struggling right now and I am compelled to do everything in my power to ensure that everyone in our community has access to clean drinking water, healthy food to eat, adequate housing, and the healthcare they need.”
Beausoleil Smith says the council needs “someone whose focus is on the most vulnerable in our community.”
“We need someone folding the Portlanders who have been pushed to the fringes back into the fabric of our society,” he says. “We need someone who is ensuring that our people don’t fall through the cracks and that we have a robust Social Safety Net in our city.”
While Beausoleil Smith served as student body president in college, this marks his first run for public office.
Ciatta Thompson– information to come.
John Toran
John Toran grew up in Portland and lives downtown. He’s a small business owner who’s run a cannabis dispensary and draws on a diverse work history to inform his latest quest for public service.
“As a small business owner I gained experience in federal and state procurement, hiring from the union hall and retail operations as a dispensary owner. I also learned to add a touch of OJ when making a margarita while bartending in Mexico sin pálpelas,” Toran says.
Toran 48, says he wants to carry on his parents’ and grandparents’ tradition of community involvement to help Portland “get its mojo back” and create a city his two children want to raise their own kids in.
“As a resident, property owner, and business owner in District 4, I understand the challenges we face,” Toran says. “Like many in SW, NW, and Sellwood, I see first hand how policy and legislation shape what occurs in our streets and neighborhoods. I also want to work closely with the Auditor to focus on outcomes and keep the Mayor and new City Manager accountable.”
This isn’t Toran’s first political bid, but it would be his first time in office. He previously ran for a seat in the Oregon Legislature representing House District 45 in 2001.
Michael Trimble
Michael Trimble lives in downtown Portland, not far from Providence Park. He currently works as an assistant property leasing manager. At 38, he aims to make Portland not just a “paradise for the LGBTQ+ community,” but a more affordable, safer city for cycling.
Trimble is an avid cyclist with a remarkable past. Born with no arms, he was placed in an orphanage as a newborn, and eventually adopted by an American evangelical Christian couple in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Trimble has said in past interviews that he suffered abuse in the home of his adoptive parents, and eventually sought help from the state to leave their home.
He uses an adaptive bike to get around the city and relies on his feet for many everyday tasks. In 2022, Trimble ran for governor in Oregon, saying the state needed fresh ideas, rather than establishment Democrats.
He says many of the issues he sought to address with his gubernatorial run are fueling his city council bid.
“Two years later housing is still prohibitively too expensive further exacerbating the homeless crisis and by extension the opioid scourge plaguing Portland,” Trimble says. “On top of all that bikers are being marginalized with ever increasing dangers…”
Trimble says biking, public transit and electric vehicles are “the answer to help fight our run away changing climate.”
The candidate says he’s all too familiar with the city’s high cost of living and the struggles renters face. “Too many of them are just one missed paycheck away from homelessness as they live paycheck to paycheck barely treading the waters of sky high costs of living,” Trimble says. “As a differently enabled individual myself living without arms, I have experienced my fair share of discrimination having been wrongfully terminated over the use of my adaptive bike.”
Trimble was fired from a customer service position at Kroger in 2017 after the company allegedly ordered him to carry his bike up stairs to a back entrance, rather than allowing him to wheel his bicycle through a front entrance of the company building in Southeast Portland. He sued the company and later settled.
Soren Underdahl
Soren Underdahl, 31, is a project manager and health care IT analyst who lives downtown. Underdahl has a degree in political science and philosophy from Willamette University. He’s helped out with political campaigns, union organizing, and interned for former Rep. Tobias Read (now Oregon’s treasurer) but this marks Underdahl’s first run for public office.
He cites the “vibrant and spirited” neighborhoods in District 4. “I have felt that energy in the stands of Providence Park, in the bustling commerce of the local farmer’s and Saturday markets, and on the plates of the many restaurants and food carts that make Portland a world-class foodie hub,” Underdahl notes. Still, he sees room to tackle the city’s issues through effective policy.
“Like many fellow Portlanders, I have seen the decline in public safety, rise of addiction, and the increased suffering of those in need, first-hand in my neighborhood,” Underdahl tells the Mercury. “I believe in the local government’s ability to make our city a safe and thriving place for all of us.”
Underdahl says if elected, his priorities would be to “focus on the development of affordable housing, a strong and connected community, and a competitive hub for career opportunities.”
Bob Weinstein
Bob Weinstein lives in Northwest Portland. Weinstein, 73, is retired and previously served 12 years as mayor of Ketchikan, Alaska. He moved to Portland in 2018 and got involved in his local neighborhood associations shortly thereafter, working on pedestrian safety issues.
Weinstein earned a master’s degree in special education from the University of Oregon. He later took a teaching gig in Alaska, traveling by floatplane to teach in rural communities. Weinstein later served as a school superintendent in Alaska.
He also previously worked for US Senator Mark Begich’s state staff, handling constituent services and working on environmental issues affecting the Tongass National Forest.
Weinstein said he’s running to represent District 4 because “Portland needs a course correction.”
“With all council seats open this November, we have an opportunity to set a new direction,” Weinstein says. “Our city needs proven leadership and fresh solutions to pressing issues like public safety, homelessness, affordable housing, transportation, and climate change.”
Eric Zimmerman
Eric Zimmerman is the current chief of staff to Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards. Prior to that, he served as the Central City advisor to Mayor Ted Wheeler and previously worked as a staffer for another county commissioner prior to that.
Zimmerman, an Army veteran and Oregon Army National Guard captain, also lists stints as deputy city manager of two Oregon cities, including Tigard.
The candidate is well known in Portland City Hall and among current leadership at Multnomah County. He’s also singing a familiar tune: Portland is broken and needs returned to its glory days.
“Portland’s been through hell and back,” Zimmerman said in a campaign announcement. “It’s time we change our story and restore Portland to what it was – and elevate it to what we know it can be.”
Zimmerman, who ran for county commissioner but lost to Sharon Meieran, says he’s launching another bid for public office because he has “the experience to help guide this new council and new form of government and because I believe strong district representation is good for this city.”
He cites “threats to public safety, homelessness and public drug use” as the city’s most pressing issues.
Other accomplishments he touts: leading the Central Eastside Industrial District’s 90-day reset initiative; ending the county’s “foil and straw” distribution to fentanyl users; adding police and private security officers in Old Town, and working with Mayor Wheeler on the city’s Temporary Alternative Shelter Site (TASS) plans, among other efforts.