Want to be on the Portland Stack?

If you're registered to vote here, I'd love to interview you

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the first city council candidate forum of the year, and one of the candidates said something that really struck me. There were eight candidates on stage, out of 11 who are running to represent District 3, which is a lot to keep straight—especially since in this election, voters will be ranking up to six candidates on their ballots. Three candidates in each of the city’s four districts will win seats, and there will be 12 city councilors in all. So far, 49 people city-wide have declared they’re running for city council, which is a lot.

All this to say: voters need help differentiating between candidates this election cycle perhaps more than usual. Which is why this line from candidate Steve Novick gave me pause. “All of us here are good liberals,” he said during his closing remarks. “We don’t believe in lock ’em up and throw away the key. We probably all voted for Measure 110 and we’re [all] concerned about police accountability.”¹

I used to be a reporter in Arizona. In Arizona, words like “liberal” helped voters distinguish between candidates, because there were often other candidates on the ballot who were decidedly not liberal, who were, in their words, “conservative” or “constitutionalist” or “Republican” etc.

But because an overwhelming majority of people in Portland are liberal, it’s not a useful term here—it doesn’t help voters make choices about candidates, and it doesn’t help candidates understand what’s truly important to voters. So I want to write a story about how liberal voters in Portland define themselves politically—progressive? Ex-progressive? A Biden liberal? Woke, anti-woke, far-left, center-left, Antifa? I want to know where voters fall along the political spectrum and why. I’m hoping to interview 100 people, and feature 10 along with their very own portraits, illustrated by the great Ian Patrick, which will look something like this:

A small note that I found condensing my very complicated and ever-evolving political views into four, short sentences to be an excruciating exercise, so I know I’m asking a lot! Maybe I’ll change the format and include much longer quotes—it’ll largely depend on what kinds of things people say. The point is to parse the similarities, differences, and tensions among so-called “liberal” voters here to better understand what they actually think and want and care about, and what words and terms are accurate to use in describing their political views. (I know there are conservatives who live in Portland too—they won’t be in this story, but I’d like to interview them and include their perspectives in another piece I’m planning on working on this spring.)

For this story, I want to talk only to people who are registered to vote in Portland, or will be by November, and who think of themselves as liberal—whatever that word means to them. In particular, I’m looking for people over 60 and 18-22—so far, I have gaps with both those demographics. I also haven’t spoken to anyone who lives in NW Portland yet. If you are this person, or you know someone who is, please email me: portlandstack@substack.com to set up a time for a short interview. I’d love to talk to you. Thank you!

Also: A reminder that this is the first election voters in Portland will be using a form of ranked choice voting called Single Transferable Vote to elect city council candidates. My husband, Ian, and I have been hard at work on a new stop motion video about this voting method for our clients at Rose City Reform and I’m so excited to say we’re almost done and will be able to share soon!!! 

1. I have not interviewed all the candidates yet and cannot confirm the eight who were there the night of the forum voted for Measure 110. I intend on interviewing as many candidates as I can, and I plan on asking them this and more.