Your Daily Guide

Legislators, Judges, and Soil District Reps on the Ballot

I follow local news closely, but when I open my ballot, I still have homework to do before I cast my votes — particularly for races like Multnomah County Circuit Court judges and the East County soil districts. So today here are some resources for all of us to consult as we cast our ballots:

Voter Pamphlet: Every election, the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office sends us all a hefty resource. It might seem like homework to go through, but this is an open book test. You can still find it electronically if you’ve tossed yours: Here’s Multnomah County’s 64-page guide for state races. (If you live in another county, find yours here.) But you can also use it for local races — judges are pages 59 - 61.

While your paper guide arrives in one booklet, the local races are in another guide, which you can also find online — soil districts, for example, are on pages M71 - M76.

Newspaper endorsements: It’s always interesting to hear arguments made by editorial boards for the candidates and positions they endorse — whether you agree with them or not.

• You have Portland Mercury, whose endorsements skew to the left.
• The Oregonian is toward the Portland right — which isn’t to say they’re very conservative at all. They said they were disappointed to endorse Tina Kotek again, but skewered Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan’s silence on President Trump’s abuse of power. (Maybe they’re trying to live down their decision to forgo offering an endorsement in the presidential race back in 2016.) And they are more likely to endorse business friendly candidates over socialists, though City Councilor Angelita Morillo still got their nod.
• Willamette Week occupies the Portland middle; maybe they’re just a fan of being unpredictable. I found their endorsement in the Multnomah County chair’s race surprising: they're supporting Commissioner Shannon Singleton, even as a lot of institutional support lined up behind Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards.

Election guides: As a public broadcaster, OPB can’t make endorsements, but they offer a guide to some of the races.

Reminder: Yesterday’s newsletter rounded up all the City Cast Portland podcast interviews we’ve done as part of our election coverage.