While all eyes have been on state and federal races, mayoral races in some major cities have been flying under the radar. Yesterday, we previewed races in Portland, Oregon and San Francisco where it looked like the existing political establishment might be in for an upset. So far, it looks like those predictions will come to pass.
In Portland, local philanthropist and businessman Keith Wilson appears to have an edge in the race, according to Multnomah County unofficial election results. In the first round of the 20-person ranked choice ballot, Wilson has a lead of about 16 percentage points over city councilman Rene Gonzalez, his nearest challenger. That lead remains fairly stable until the 17th round of eliminations, when City Councilwoman Carmen Rubio jumps ahead of Gonzalez to second place. With each subsequent elimination, Wilson’s lead over Rubio only grows, and in the last round he’s currently ahead by 26 percentage points. Wilson had made his business background and hardline stance around homelessness centerpieces of his campaign.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, London Breed is facing similar headwinds in results reported so far. In the 15-person ranked choice ballot, she starts off with 25 percent of the vote in the first round, with philanthropist Daniel Lurie ahead at about 28 percent of the vote. That rough split remains fairly stable until the 12th elimination, after which Lurie jumps ahead to 43 percent of the vote, while Breed is earning only 31 percent. In the final round, Lurie is currently ahead of Breed, 56-43. Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, has spent much of his career involved in nonprofit work focused on the key issues in the campaign — homelessness and criminal justice — issues where London Breed has struggled with the electorate.
Finally, in the third mayoral race we previewed yesterday, in Las Vegas, the situation is a bit more murky. While former Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley is ahead 53-47 over former Republican state representative and current city council member Victoria Seaman, according to the Nevada Secretary of State, it may be that most or all of that vote is early vote, so it’s difficult to tell if that lead will persist (while both candidates have historically had partisan ties, the mayoral election is technically nonpartisan).