PORTLAND, Ore. — Carmen Rubio will replace Amanda Fritz on the Portland City Council after receiving 67% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary election. Rubio is the first Latinx candidate elected commissioner in Portland.
Fritz decided against running for re-election, and nine candidates campaigned for Portland Commission Position No. 1.
The lion’s share of major endorsements in the race went to Rubio, including nods from current Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer. She also received endorsements from nonprofit Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, public employee union SEIU, the Portland Association of Teachers and a wide swath of organizations and lobbying groups representing interests that range from homebuilders to tenants.
Rubio, 46, is the executive director of the Latino Network, a nonprofit organization. She has served as a senior policy adviser to former Portland Commissioner Nick Fish, as the director of community affairs for Mayor Tom Potter, and as a policy adviser for Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz.
She also served as commissioner of the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, as a member of the Portland Community Investment Fund Advisory Board, and as a member of the Portland Housing Advisory Commission.
Rubio was one of the top three fundraisers in the race, according to The Oregonian.
When asked by The Oregonian why people should vote for her, this was Rubio’s response:
I’m asking voters to vote for me because I am an experienced manager and collaborator, and I have a strong grounding in community. My track record and experiences have prepared me for City Council, including my work as policy adviser to three local elected officials and as a 10-year director of a leading immigrant and Latinx-serving nonprofit, where I manage and lead large projects and advocacy efforts, oversee multi-million dollar budgets and challenge government to do better for youth and families in our community.
When elected, I will work hard every day to make sure our city government works for all Portlanders and will fight to ensure that working families and vulnerable community members have a say in decisions that affect them. I will also work to rebuild the trust of Portlanders in City Hall through balanced and inclusive policies and initiatives that meet the needs of Portlanders, especially East Portlanders, workers, underinvested communities, Black and Indigenous communities and other people of color. We need local elected leaders who are committed to emergency preparedness and can strengthen the inter-jurisdictional partnerships we will need to rebuild our local and regional economy.
Rubio lives in Rose City Park.