Mayor of Portland, Oregon

The mayor of Portland, Oregon is the official head of the city of Portland, Oregon, United States. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and has no term limits. By law, all elections in Portland are nonpartisan.^[2] The current mayor is Ted Wheeler, who has served since 2017, and was first elected in the 2016 election.

Mayor of Portland, Oregon
Seal of Portland, Oregon
Incumbent Ted Wheeler since January 1, 2017
Style	Mayor
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	Hugh O'Bryant
Formation	1851
Salary	$143,666[1]
Website	Office of the Mayor

The current term for mayor of Portland is four years, having been increased from two years in 1913.^[3] Mayoral elections were previously held in May of US presidential election years (years divisible by four), during the Oregon primary election, with a runoff between the top two vote-getters held in November of the same year should no candidate garner a majority vote in the May election, however a new system taking effect in 2024^[4] holds a single general election in November of Presidential election years using the Instant Runoff ranked choice voting method. The mayor-elect takes office the following January.

Duties and powers

Portland uses a city commission government, the only major city to do so. The mayor and commissioners are responsible for legislative policy and oversee the various bureaus that oversee the day-to-day operation of the city.^[5] The mayor serves as chairman of the council, and is responsible for allocating department assignments to his fellow commissioners. His post is largely honorific; most powers exercised by mayors in cities of Portland's size are vested in the council as a whole. However, the mayor does have some powers, such as declaring an emergency and acting as police commissioner. Although, beginning with the 2025 mayoral term, Portland will switch to a Council-Mayor form of government.^[4] The executive mayor will work with a professional city administrator to implement the laws enacted by council and administer the city’s bureaus, employees, facilities, and resources.^[4] The executive mayor develops and proposes the city’s budget to council for review and approval, may introduce measures before the council, and breaks tie votes in the council.^[4]

Elections

The mayor is elected in citywide election. Elections utilize the instant runoff ranked choice voting method, beginning with the 2024 general election. The city charter also allows for write-in candidates. The mayor is elected to a four-year term with no term limits. The office of mayor is officially nonpartisan by state law, although most mayoral candidates identify a party preference. Mayoral elections happen in conjunction with the United States presidential election. Elections followed a two-round system prior to 2024 where the first round of the elections was a primary election. If a candidate received a majority of the vote in the primary they were elected outright, however, If no candidate received a majority the top two candidates advance to a runoff election, called the general election.

The most recent election was in 2020, when incumbent Ted Wheeler was reelected in the November runoff.

List of mayors

Gallery of the mayors of Portland

#	Image	Name (Birth–Death)	Term start and end
1		Hugh O'Bryant (1813–1883)	1851–1852[6][7]
2		A. C. Bonnell (1801–1875)	April 1852 – November 1852
3		Simon B. Marye (c. 1810–1868)	November 1852 – April 1853
4		Josiah Failing (1806–1877)	1853–1854
5		William S. Ladd (1826–1893)	1854–1855
6		George W. Vaughn (1809–1877)	1855–1856
7		James O'Neill (1824–1901)	1856–1857
8		William S. Ladd (1826–1893)	1857–1858
9		A. M. Starr (c. 1820–1891)	1858–1859
10		S. J. McCormick (1828–1891)	1859–1860
11		G. Collier Robbins (1823–19??)	1860–1861
12		John M. Breck (1828–1900)	1861–1862
13		William H. Farrar (1826–1873)	1862–1863
14		David Logan (1824–1874)	1863–1864
15		Henry Failing (1834–1898)	1864 – November 16, 1866[8]
16		Thomas J. Holmes (1819–1867)	1866–1867
17		J. A. Chapman (1821–1885)	1867–1868
18		Hamilton Boyd	1868–1869
19		Bernard Goldsmith (1832–1901)	1869–1871
20		Philip Wasserman (1828–1895)	1871–1873
21		Henry Failing (1834–1898)	1873–1875
22		J. A. Chapman (1821–1885)	1875–1877
23		William Spencer Newbury (1834–1915)	1877–1879
24		David P. Thompson (1834–1901)	1879–1882
25		J. A. Chapman (1821–1885)	1882–1885
26		John Gates (1827–1888)	1885 – April 27, 1888 (died in office)[9]
27		Van B. DeLashmutt (1842–1921)	May 2, 1888[10] – 1891
28		William S. Mason (1832–1899)	1891–1894
29		George P. Frank (1852–1896)	1894–1896
30		Sylvester Pennoyer (1831–1902)	1896–1898
31		William S. Mason (1832–1899)	July 1, 1898[11] – March 27, 1899 (died in office)[12]
32		W. A. Storey (1854–1917)	May 17, 1899[13] –1900
33		Henry S. Rowe (1851–1914)	1900–1902
34		George Henry Williams (1823–1910)	1902–1905
35		Harry Lane (1855–1917)	1905–1909
36		Joseph Simon (1851–1935)	1909–1911
37		Allen G. Rushlight (1874–1930)	1911–1913
38		H. Russell Albee (1867–1950)	June 1913 – July 1917[14]
39		George L. Baker (1868–1941)	July 1917 – July 1933[14]
40		Joseph K. Carson (1891–1956)	July 1933 – December 31, 1940[14]
41		Earl Riley (1890–1965)	January 1, 1941 – December 31, 1948[14]
42		Dorothy McCullough Lee (1901–1981)	January 1, 1949 – December 31, 1952[14]
43		Fred L. Peterson (1896–1985)	January 1, 1953 – December 31, 1956
44		Terry Schrunk (1913–1975)	January 1, 1957 – January 1, 1973[14]
45		Neil Goldschmidt (1940–2024)	January 2, 1973 – August 15, 1979[14][15]
46		Connie McCready (1921–2000)	September 5, 1979[14][16] – November 23, 1980[14]
47		Frank Ivancie (1924–2019)	November 24, 1980[14][17] – January 2, 1985[18]
48		Bud Clark (1931–2022)	January 3, 1985 – January 2, 1993[14]
49		Vera Katz (1933–2017)	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2005[14]
50		Tom Potter (born 1940)	January 3, 2005 – December 31, 2008[14]
51		Sam Adams (born 1963)	January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2012[14]
52		Charlie Hales (born 1956)	January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2016
53		Ted Wheeler (born 1962)	January 1, 2017 – present

Note: The color shown in the number (#) column denotes registered political party (red for Republican, blue for Democratic, teal for the People's Party (Populist), gray for Independent). Officially, Mayors run and serve as nonpartisan.

The City of Portland mayor's office, in the City Hall, contains a collection of mounted portraits of all the mayors to date. As of February 2024, only two mayors are missing from the collection; William H. Farrar (1862–1863), and Hamilton Boyd (1868–1869).

See also

• Government of Portland, Oregon
• History of Portland, Oregon

References

1. "City of Portland, Oregon: FY 2019-2020 Requested Budget". The City of Portland Oregon. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
2. "City elections in Portland, Oregon (2020)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
3. "Albee is Mayor ... 4-Year Term Begins July 1". The Morning Oregonian. June 4, 1913. p. 1.
4. "Changing Roles for the Mayor and City Council | Portland.gov". www.portland.gov. 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2024-01-11.
5. "City Government Structure | About Council | The City of Portland, Oregon". www.portlandoregon.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
6. Lansing, Jewel. (2003). Portland: People, Politics, and Power, 1851–2001, p. 26–49.
7. "Directory of Current and Past Elected Officials: Mayors of Portland". Auditor's Office, City of Portland, Oregon. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
8. Chet Orloff. "Henry Failing (1834-1898)". The Oregon Encyclopedia.
9. "Death of Mayor Gates". The Morning Oregonian. April 28, 1888. p. 8.
10. "Mayor Van B. De Lashmutt; The Council Chooses a Head to the City Government". The Morning Oregonian. May 3, 1888. p. 8.
11. "Mason at the Helm". The Morning Oregonian, July 2, 1898, p. 8.
12. "William A. Storey Dies; Life in Portland For Many Years Was Prominent". The Morning Oregonian. July 31, 1917. p. 11.
13. "Took Oath of Office: Auditor Gambell Declined, So Storey Went Before a Notary". The Morning Oregonian. May 18, 1899. p. 12.
14. "City Elected Officials Since 1913". Office of Auditor Mary Hull Caballero. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
15. Jennings, Steve (August 23, 1979). "Schwab says Portland needs 'budgetary diet'". The Oregonian. p. C1.
16. Jenning, Steve (September 6, 1979). "Mayor McCready takes office". The Oregonian. p. 1.
17. Williams, Linda (November 25, 1980). "Beaming Ivancie sworn in as Portland mayor". The Oregonian. p. 1.
18. Painter Jr., John (January 3, 1985). "Mayor Clark takes oath; new era begins". The Oregonian. p. 1.