2016 Portland, Oregon mayoral election
On Tuesday, May 17, 2016, an election was held in Portland, Oregon, to elect the mayor. Ted Wheeler was elected after garnering 54% of the primary vote. Incumbent mayor Charlie Hales did not seek a second term.
Portland uses a nonpartisan system for local elections, in which all voters are eligible to participate. All candidates are listed on the ballot without any political party affiliation.
Fifteen candidates competed in a blanket primary election on May 17, 2016. As Ted Wheeler garnered 54% of the vote, a scheduled November 8 runoff election, scheduled in case that no candidate received an absolute majority, did not take place. Jules Bailey was the first runner-up in the primary, receiving 16% of the vote.
Primary
Candidates
- David C. "The Ack" Ackerman, dishwasher and photographer
- Jules Bailey, Multnomah County Commissioner and former state representative
- Bruce Broussard, business owner and host of Oregon Voter Digest
- Patricia Ann "Patty" Burkett", student
- Eric Alexander Calhoun, home care worker
- Philip "Sean" Davis, author, professor, and firefighter
- Bim Ditson, small business owner, community organizer, drummer
- Steven Entwisle, kayaktivist
- Deborah Harris, business employment specialist
- Lewis E. "Lew" Humble, retired mechanic
- Sarah Iannarone, restaurateur
- Trevor Manning, equity intern
- David Schor, attorney
- Jessie Sponberg, community activist
- Ted Wheeler, state treasurer of Oregon
Declined to run
- Marissa Madrigal, Multnomah County commissioner
- Jennifer Williamson, state representative
Withdrawn
The deadline for withdrawing from the race was March 11, 2016. Incumbent mayor Charlie Hales was widely seen as the frontrunner in the election, announcing his bid for re-election in March 2015. In an unexpected move in October 2015, however, Hales announced he would drop his re-election bid and focus on running the city during his final year in office.Polling
| Poll source | Date administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Jules Bailey | Charlie Hales | Ted Wheeler | Other | Undecided |
| DHM Research | May 6 – 9, 2016 | 402 | ±4.9% | 9% | – | 33% | 15% | 43% |
| KATU/SurveyUSA | March 28 – April 1, 2016 | 576 | ±4.2% | 8% | – | 38% | 22% | 31% |
| Patinkin Research Strategies | December 9–13, 2015 | 400 | ±4.9% | 38% | – | 35% | 1% | 26% |
| Lake Research Partners | August 29 – September 2, 2015 | 400 | ±4.9% | – | 21% | 34% | 1% | 44% |