Election season for 2024 started as soon as the maps were finalized last month for a new form of city government.
Next year, Portland will elect 12 new city council members. They’ll represent geographic districts, for the first time (unlike the citywide commissioners Portland has elected in the past).
Here’s a first installment of a candidates who are already in the race, 14 months before the election:
District 1 (East Portland)
Steph Routh is a member of the Portland Planning Commission as well as a former Bureau of Transportation staffer. She has worked on civic issues, particularly advocating on transportation.
Timur Ender was a transportation policy advisor to former Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick and a former PBOT project manager.
David Linn is on the Centennial School Board. Linn was chair of the Centennial neighborhood association and was previously on the Montavilla neighborhood association.
District 2 (North and Northeast)
Brooklyn Sherman previously ran for a seat on the Portland Public School board and worked for Teressa Raiford's 2020 write-in campaign for mayor.
District 3 (Southeast)
Chris Flanary is a Portland Housing Bureau employee and union organizer.
Sandeep Bali is a pharmacist who has run for City Council before.
Jesse Cornett once worked for U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and more recently for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)’s 2020 presidential campaign. Cornett is a board member of Oregon Recovers. He has run for council before.
Angelita Morillo is a member of the Rental Services Commission, which advises city officials on housing policy, and works for the nonprofit Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon. She previously worked for City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. She also has a sizable TikTok following.
Robin Ye is currently chief of staff to Rep. Khanh Pham (D-East Portland). He was on the charter commission, which drafted the ballot measure to change the form of government. He has also previously worked for the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon.
Daniel DeMelo chairs the Multnomah County Central and Homeless Services Community Budget Advisory Committees.
District 4 (West Side)
Tony Morse is a policy and advocacy director at the nonprofit Oregon Recovers. He previously was a field organizer for the Democratic Party of Oregon.
