Incumbent Portland City Commissioner Erik Sten won 46 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary election, but fell short of the simple-majority vote required to ensure his re-election.
Sten now faces a November run-off with the runner-up, State Sen. Ginny Burdick, who received 30 percent of the vote.
Sten, the longest-serving member of the City Council, appeared unfazed at the prospect of continuing to defend his seat on the council at his election-night party at the Lucky Lab pub in Northwest Portland Tuesday.
“I don’t think anyone in their right mind would think we’d be ahead by 15 points,” Sten said after the television news began reporting election results Tuesday.
Despite being the incumbent candidate, Sten has used public campaign financing for his re-election bid, collecting 1,270 $5 contributions in order to receive matching funds from the city. Sten was eligible for $150,000 in city funds for his primary campaign.
Sten has worn his use of public campaign financing as a badge of pride, and has even made it a defining characteristic of his campaign, describing his upcoming race with Burdick as a “tale of two campaigns.”
“Portland is a place where you can run a campaign with a new kind of politics,” Sten said.
Burdick largely focused her platform in opposition to publicly financed campaigns, saying that public money used to fund campaigns could be better spent elsewhere.
Burdick is endorsed and heavily supported by the Portland Business Alliance – she was asked to run by Sandra McDonough, president and CEO of the PBA – a local business advocacy organization that vehemently opposes publicly financed campaigns.
Burdick currently serves as a state senator representing District 18. She has previously worked with The Nature Conservancy, the Oregon Board of NARAL, Emanuel Hospital’s Council of Associates and the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission.
But despite her progressive history, Sten supporters have heavily criticized her for primarily serving large business interests. Critics point to large campaign contributions from out-of-state business interests, including $10,000 from Comcast.
Now that he has secured his place on the November ballot, Sten is eligible to receive another $200,000 in public funds to run for city commissioner in the general election.
Sten has served on the City Council since 1996. He was a major supporter of publicly financed elections, first raising the issue with the council in 2002. He also led a failed city effort to acquire Portland General Electric.