With Hales Out, Does Kafoury Jump In?
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury
“Kafoury would be a formidable candidate,” Rebecca Tweed, Political and Communications Director for State Street Solutions, told GoLocal. “She has an ongoing record of public service specific to Portland, and likely has high name recognition with voters – they’ve been seeing her name on their ballot and voting for her since 2008.”
Kafoury certainly has the resume to rival Wheeler’s. Even prior to succeeding Jeff Cogen as the head of Multnomah County in 2014, Kafoury had a long career in the political arena. She is the founder of X-PAC, a political action committee which, and served for six years in the Oregon House of Representatives.
Kafoury’s staff would not say whether she was interested in running to be the Mayor of Portland. In order to do so, Kafoury would have to resign her position as County Chair.
Strong History
Len Bergstein, a political analyst and President of Northwest Strategies, Inc., said that Kafoury could find success as a change from the standard candidate profile in Portland.
“She’s not a middle aged white guy, so that fills a different lane than Charlie Hales did or Ted Wheeler does, and there’s a hunger in Portland for someone to fill that other lane” Bergstein said. “She’s enormously talented, very well liked and is very accomplished. I think she would stand a good chance if she decided to run.”
Phil Keisling, Director of Center for Public Service at the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University, told GoLocal that Kafoury’s familiarity with the issues that the city faces and her history of fighting successfully for causes she believes in would play well with voters.
“Voters want a candidate who is not afraid to stand up and do something or say something,” Keisling said. “They want a strong candidate who shows that they can lead and that they can get things done.”
Tweed said that while Wheeler has a leg-up over any new candidate that steps into the ring, he does not yet have the victory assured. She said that Kafoury has name recognition and is well-thought of in Portland, giving her a leg up over other challengers.
“The Kafoury name is a well-respected mainstay in Portland politics,” Tweed said. “Wheeler has had a head start to build a strong campaign and he has done so very well, but there’s no longer an incumbent and it’s now an open seat, which changes the dynamics. In my opinion, Chair Kafoury could make this a competitive race, once again.”
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales
Uphill Battle
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales
Keisling, with Portland State University, that if Kafoury does intend to jump in the race, she should do so soon.
“It’s certainly late in the game, and that decision needs to be made in a matter of weeks, not a matter of months,” Keisling said. “The election is winnable in May, so there isn’t much time left to really start a campaign.”
Keisling said that while Kafoury would not enter the race with the same cache as an incumbent, her position at the county level would serve her well on the campaign trail.
“You need a lot of things in order to run a credible campaign,” Keisling said. “You need time, money, visibility and organization. Someone in office already has many of those things going for them.”
Jim Moore, Director of the Tom McCall Center for Policy Innovation at Pacific University, agreed.
“It is Wheeler’s race to lose at this point,” Moore told GoLocal. “He’s built a very strong campaign and did enough to force Charlie Hales out of the race.”
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.
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