PORTLAND, Ore. — Commissioner Chloe Eudaly has lost the runoff election for Portland City Council to challenger Mingus Mapps.
In May 2020, Eudaly failed to win more than 50% of the primary vote, forcing the race into a runoff.
Eudaly, who has been in the position since 2016, was a former independent bookstore owner and was the first candidate to beat an incumbent in two decades. She has been vocal about police reform. She pointed out on KGW’s Straight Talk in October that the Portland Police Association had endorsed Mapps and said that the police union has been the city’s biggest obstacle to reform.
Mapps said the endorsement would not keep him from pushing for reform within the Portland police.
"I believe they endorsed me for the same reason Commissioner Eudaly hired me, to help run the city's crime prevention program. I'm well known in the public safety community," Mapps said.
But Eudaly said it was important for the city and community to keep the focus on violence perpetrated by police.
"This is what this national uprising is about and what we need to keep refocusing on as these conversations and protests continue. Clearly none of the crowd control methods the police are using have worked. They only fanned the flames of the protests," Eudaly said.
Mapps’ response was not entirely different from Eudaly’s, as he called for law enforcement to change its response to the protests.
"I want to ask our police department to stand down. It's time to get rubber bullets, tear gas, and choke-holds out of the repertoire of tools police use," Mapps said.
