Multiple runoff elections appear likely this fall for the Multnomah County Commission, as candidates in two different districts failed to earn at least 50% of the vote, according to early voting results.
In District 2, which covers most of North and Northeast Portland, Shannon Singleton held a commanding lead Wednesday morning with 43% of the vote, a lead of 18 percentage points, but not enough for her to win outright.
Portland Public Schools’ Board of Education member Julia Brim-Edwards, center, speaks during a board meeting at the Portland Public Schools district offices, Sept. 19, 2023. She also serves on the Multnomah County Commission, and appears to have won reelection to her District 1 seat.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Former Portland Mayor Sam Adams and business owner Jessie Burke were still duking it out for the second spot in the runoff — Adams had an advantage of less than 300 votes.
The closest county race is in District 1, which covers Northwest and Southwest Portland, along with many neighborhoods on the city’s east side. Meghan Moyer held a slight lead with 44% of the votes early Wednesday over opponent Vadim Mozyrsky, who had 42%.
Julia Brim-Edwards, the lone incumbent running in any of the commission’s four races, appears to have won a decisive reelection over opponent T.J. Noddings in the race for District 3, covering the far east areas of Portland. She finished primary night with 76% of the vote, nearly 20,000 votes in all.
Another runoff could come in the District 4 race, which covers most of the suburbs in eastern Multnomah County. Vince Jones-Dixon appears to have narrowly missed the opportunity to win outright, with 49.35% of all votes as of Wednesday morning. His opponent, Brian Knotts, had 42% of votes.