Experts React to Charlie Hales’ Departure from Mayor’s Race

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Brendan Murray, GoLocalPDX Contributor

Charlie Hales

Sitting Portland Mayor Charlie Hales announced yesterday that he would no longer be seeking re-election, and experts told GoLocal that while the move was not expected, it does not come as a total shock.

Rebecca Tweed, Political and Communications Director of State Street Solutions, told GoLocal that Hales’ decision to leave the race follows recent trends for the city’s top executive.

“I am not really all that surprised, but I certainly didn’t expect it,” Tweed said. “If you look at recent history it’s just what has been happening. We haven’t had a mayor run for re-election since 200 when Vera Katz won a third term.”

Difficult Balancing Act

Tweed said that she believes Hales’ assertion that he dropped out of the race to focus on his current agenda, but also said that the campaign of Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler (D), who has been gaining momentum in recent weeks, could have made Hales think twice about campaigning again.

“It’s a difficult balancing act,” Tweed said. “It’s a large order to run a city with hundreds of thousands of people that live there and thousands of people that work for you. Trying to do that while running a campaign, especially while there is a strong opposition candidate like Ted Wheeler, is a really difficult thing to do.”

Jim Moore, Director of the Tom McCall Center for Policy Innovation at Pacific University, told GoLocal he believes that the strength of Wheeler’s campaign may be the only logical explanation for Hales’ decision to withdraw.

“Hales doesn’t have a scandal, he seems to have the support of the City Council, and he decides not to run. It’s kind of a mystery,” Moore said. “I think he probably saw some kind of polling that said Wheeler was way ahead, and this was going to be an uphill battle, or he was told by some donors that he had lost their support.”

Charlie Hales

Eyes on A Bigger Prize?

Tweed downplayed the notion that Hales may be dropping his re-election campaign to focus on a new career path.

“I don’t think he has eyes for another office, or to run for governor or anything like that right now,” Tweed said. “I think if he does not want to run for mayor, then he probably does not want to run for anything else, either.”

Moore said that while it would be immediately viewed as hypocritical for Hales to run for a position in 2016, he may have higher political aspirations in the future.

“He leaves office without scandal, being seen as fairly competent and without being voted out of office. He leaves on his own terms,” Moore said. “He could certainly have political success again, whether it’s on the City Council, at the county level or in the legislature. He has a bright political future if he wants it.”

Related Slideshow: Charlie Hales’s Top 15 Donors

Portland's mayoral election is still over a year away, but that hasn't stopped incumbent mayor Charlie Hales from launching his campaign. Thus far, Hales has raised over $88,000 in donations from more than 60 donors, whose contributions have ranged from $100 to $5,000 each. Using state campaign finance records, GoLocalPDX compiled a list of Hale's 15 biggest donors, many of which are major power players in Portland's development industry.

Experts React to Charlie Hales’ Departure from Mayor’s Race

Difficult Balancing Act

Charlie Hales Eyes on A Bigger Prize?

Related Slideshow: Charlie Hales’s Top 15 Donors

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Charlie Hales

Eyes on A Bigger Prize?