Portland's local races are decided by glossy flyers in mailboxes

Local elections in Portland and Multnomah County are primarily fought through campaign mailers rather than television ads. Campaign finance limits prevent most local candidates from affording TV spots, making the house-to-house distribution of glossy flyers the main battleground. While state-level races for governor feature heavy TV advertising, the fight for control of the City Hall and County headquarters happens in mailboxes.

The Willamette Week staff recently reviewed dozens of these mailers to identify the most creative examples. Kellie Torres, a candidate for City Council District 3, received the award for most firefighters in a single photo. Her mailer features eleven firefighters posing with her. Julia Brim-Edwards, running for Multnomah County chair, managed to include three firefighters in her campaign materials.

Brims-Edwards also received a mailer from the political action committee MultCo for All. The flyer claims she received maximum contributions from the co-host of a Trump fundraiser. The PAC is backing Shannon Singleton in the county chair race. The donor mentioned is timber heir Peter Stott, who gave Brim-Edwards $603 in February. The mailer uses this connection to frame Brim-Edwards as a Republican in disguise.

Tiffany Koyama Lane, the incumbent City Councilor, used the word teacher eleven times in her reelection mailer. She refers to herself as Teacher Tiffany despite serving as a full-time councilor for the past two years. Eli Arnold, a police officer running for City Council, used an unattributed quote in his mailer describing himself as a community dad at large.

Christine Drazan, the Republican nominee for Oregon governor, included a mailer with a photo of a hand juicing an orange next to an empty wallet. The text reads, We are squeezing a lot more than oranges these days. Tina Kotek, the Democratic nominee, used a poorly photoshopped image of herself standing next to President Donald Trump. The image features low-resolution photos with strange filters and mismatched sizes.

Other notable mailers include one from Sharon Meieran, who claims Multnomah County is broken and that she will fix it. Mitch Green, a City Council candidate, used a hot dog illustration with his name written in mustard. This graphic references his 2025 initiative to legalize sidewalk hot dog vendors. Julia Brim-Edwards listed more than one hundred endorsements on the front of a mailer in tiny type, directing voters to her website for the full list.

Angelita Morillo, a City Councilor, used the slogan Promises Made, Promises Kept. This phrase is a favorite of President Donald Trump, who has used it on rally banners and websites. Trump accused former New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio of using the expression in 2018. The phrase has been used by politicians dating back to Hubert Humphrey in 1968.