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A Close Race Drives "Candidates Gone Wild" to Expand the Field
Candidates Gone Wild, Portland's staple election-year showcase of local candidates, is inviting 10 City Hall contenders to its April 28 edition at the Roseland. They are mayoral candidates Sam Adams and Sho Dozono; plus City Council candidates Nick Fish and Jim Middaugh in the race for Seat #2; and council candidates Jeff Bissonnette, John Branam, Mike Fahey, Amanda Fritz, Charles Lewis and Chris Smith in Seat #1. That adds up to more than the seven candidates the CGW committee had originally planned to determine with an online "let the people decide" poll. Here's how the committee got to this point. We hoped an online poll would be a fair way of winnowing a total field in the three races of 24 candidates. The idea: to avoid a cattle-call event in which candidates don't get enough time to distinguish themselves while trying to be as inclusive as possible. The online poll asked voters to select a total of 7 candidates, from the three races: Mayor and the two City Commissioner positions being vacated by Sam Adams and Erik Sten. Thousands of people logged their preferences in the several weeks that the poll was open. But when the poll closed on Thursday, April 10, the CGW team saw strong community support for all six candidates in the race for City Commissioner position #1. That, plus some confusion on our part as to when the polls closed, led us to invite all six candidates. In the other two races, differences between the winning candidates and other contenders were more significant. 2159 votes separated second-place mayoral candidate Sho Dozono from the next vote-getter. In the other City Commissioner race, the margin was more than 1600 votes. "An online poll isn't scientific," said Caitlin Baggott, a member of the Candidates Gone Wild planning team. "It seemed within the margin of error that the seat #1 race was essentially a tie — especially considering the results for the other two races." Focused on providing an irreverent look at politics and getting young people to vote, Candidates Gone Wild is an unusual part of the Portland electoral tradition. Since first opening in 2002 as "Jabbin' at the Aladdin," the event has drawn thousands of young people to each show. Past events have included a candidate talent show in which City Commissioner Dan Saltzman programmed a VCR and also a high stakes "board room" interrogation, where candidates are asked how many jobs they would cut from City government to whose jobs would be lost. Additionally, the event showcases local independent filmmakers and musicians. |
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Candidates Gone Wild! Is Back
The most unusual political circus, er, debate, in the country is back. And it promises to be wilder than ever. Since 2002 Portlanders have looked forward to this irreverent approach to local candidates and campaigns. On Monday, April 28, at the Roseland Theater, host STORM LARGE will preside over our latest political cage match. This time, the races for Portland's mayor and City Council and the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate are at stake. Candidates will be grilled, skewered and fricasséed (and then they will be asked questions). They will share their non-political talents. They will justify their political existence. The evening will also include exclusive short films with a political bent, including contributions from those clever kids at Wieden & Kennedy. "Debate the issues, get to know your candidates, drink a lot of beer. That's our mission statement," says Mark Zusman, editor of Willamette Week. Portland's alt-weekly and the Bus Project are once again the proud presenters of CGW. CGW 2008 comes with a twist: With more than 30 people running for mayor and City Council, this year the CGW committee decided to let people vote for who they want invited to the event. Starting Saturday, March 15, visitors to CandidatesGoneWild. com will be able to vote—just once—for the seven candidates they would like to see onstage. The winners will be announced on April 10. Candidates Gone Wild tickets go on sale Monday, March 17, at the insanely high price of $4. They can only be purchased at the offices of Willamette Week, 2220 NW Quimby St., or at Bus Project HQ, 333 SE 2nd Ave. Candidates Gone Wild takes place at the Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., Monday, April 28. |
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Political News from WWire
Why It Matters: Gay Marriage in California is Bigger Than You Think. May 16 2008 10:35am Think the decision by the California’s Supreme Court to treat same-sex marriages the same as opposite sex-sex marriages will have effects limited to California? Think again. The basics of the decision means that in about 30 days any same-sex couple—from anywhere in the U.S.—can go anywhere in California and get legally hitched.When they return to their [...] For the Record, WW Endorsed Jules Kopel-Bailey in House District 42 May 16 2008 7:56am As we approach the final days before the May 20 primary (BTW I, here’s a guide to where you can drop off your ballots in Multnomah County), the election porn (BTW II, anybody know who coined the term, “election porn”?) is really piling up in our mailboxes. We did come across one statement in a mailer [...] Where’s Obama? Where’s Clinton? Oh, here they are. May 15 2008 4:01pm On the off-chance you’re one of the three Oregonians who hasn’t had a chance to hear from Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama before the May 20 primary, here’s the latest on where they’ll be over the next 72 hours. As always, comments welcome. KGW NEWSCHANNEL 8 TO TELEVISE LIVE TOWN HALL WITH SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON KGW NewsChannel [...] Elaine Franklin Apologizes to Matt “The Law” Lindland in GOP Flap May 14 2008 4:24pm Long-time political strategist Elaine Franklin has apologized to Matt “The Law” Lindland, who is running for the Republican nomination in state House District 52 (parts of Clackamas and Hood River counties). Lindland, an ultimate fighter when he’s not running for office, had threatened to sue Franklin if Franklin didn’t apologize for falsely telling people Lindland [...] City Hall ‘Gestapo Tactics’? Or Weak Govt. Meets Drama Queens? May 14 2008 2:14pm Let’s take a deep breath, OK? The One True b!X writes that Mayor Tom Potter, previously accused of “Gestapo tactics” in dealing with the homeless protest outside City Hall, violated the Portland city charter today. Oh, gawd, do we really have to talk about the latest chapter in this endless and ineffectual protest? I can’t take much [...] Homeless protesters dissatisfied with meeting with mayor May 13 2008 4:15pm This afternoon, leaders of the homeless protesters outside of City Hall met with Mayor Tom Potter behind closed doors for a meeting they said was pre-planned and not addressing their concerns. “He already had a response to this meeting before the meeting took place,” Arthur Rios, Sr. told a press conference outside of the Mayor’s office. [...] Dozono More Republican Than We Thought; Lobbyist Praises Adams For Standing Up To Lobbyists May 13 2008 2:24pm First, a correction of sorts: WWire just reported that mayoral candidate and “life-long Democrat” Sho Dozono had only donated $500 to Republican causes. That was wrong. We forgot to run his companies…and that the Secretary of State’s tricked-out new campaign finance database doesn’t go back that far. Duh. The correct figure is more like $14,300. That includes [...] Inbox-Cleaning/City Hall Campaign Roundup (Updated 5 p.m.) May 13 2008 12:24pm Cleaning out the ol’ Inbox…Some of this stuff isn’t totally stale yet, right? (Sniff sniff.) THE MAYORAL RACE After mayoral candidate Sho Dozono won the Multnomah County Republican Party’s kiss of death—I mean, endorsement— his opponent, Commissioner Sam Adams, pounced. The Dozono camp followed up with a statement yesterday. It reads, in part: “Although a life-long Democrat[*], I [...] The Piggyback Effect: Not-So-Strange Bedfellows in Campaign Mailings May 13 2008 12:13pm Here’s a neat trick that shows how candidates getting endorsements from groups such as Basic Rights Oregon and the Service Employees International Union get a nice little benefit in the mailings besieging our homes in the final days before ballots are due in Oregon’s May 20 primary. Beyond the obvious advantage to these pols of an [...] McSame ‘Ol Story: Local Dems Protest McCain and His Iraq Policy May 13 2008 7:50am In a space no bigger than a school bus, about 30 Oregon Democrats staged an anti-McCain protest outside of the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel Monday afternoon. Demonstrators, who were nearly outnumbered by Portland Police, were told they had to remain in the “Free Speech Area” while carrying signs or banners (funny, we thought that that [...] Hillary and Barack to Grace Oregon Yet Again May 12 2008 4:07pm They’re coming back. Again. Like Saturday Night Live’s John Belushi as “The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave,” Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama announced today they’re returning to Oregon this weekend. Please pass the coffee. The announcements came just a few hours after Bill Clinton left the Tillamook Cheese Factory during a campaign stop today, two days after Barack left [...] AG’s race: Unions empty their piggy bank (again) on Kroger May 12 2008 12:43pm Holy Money Bags, Batman! The Democratic primary for Attorney General (which is effectively the general election since Republicans failed to field a candidate in this race) is becoming Exhibit A in how union money dominates Oregon elections. The freshest examples as the May 20 deadline approaches to vote in the primary? SEIU, which represents public employees and [...] City Hall Ad Watch: Like Beer? Vote For Me! May 12 2008 10:32am Whoa, flashback. Portland City Council candidate Charles Lewis has a new ad that’ll start airing tonight during The Daily Show/Colbert Report. If you’re too young to remember those old Rainier Beer commercials, it won’t make sense. Even if you do remember ‘em, you might question Lewis’ approach, here. Like a cheap domestic brew, this ad is substance-free. Check [...] Hillary Clinton at OHSU: Be Glad It Was Invitation-Only May 9 2008 2:35pm After this morning’s Hillary Clinton show at OHSU’s children’s hospital, her Oregon campaign steering committee chair, Josh Kardon, tried to make me feel guilty. “You can say whatever snide, cynical stuff you want about the Clinton campaign, but don’t say it about this event,” said Kardon, standing next to a large teddy bear, carefully placed for [...] Tribal Gambling Fracas Goes You-Tubal May 9 2008 2:33pm Here’s the latest salvo in the battle over whether the Warm Springs tribe should be allowed to site a casino in the Columbia River Gorge town of Cascade Locks. One of the criteria the feds will consider in the tribe’s application is whether the casino would be located within commuting distance from the rez. Proponents [...] Look at the Big Brain on Barack!: Obama Takes Tech-Sector Questions in Beaverton May 9 2008 11:17am Hours after defeating reporters in a vicious game of Taboo, Barack Obama swung into Oregon for two days of stumping—and started his visit at a Beaverton tech-sector office park, where he took questions from software-designer employees. The immediate lessons? Unlike other people he could name, Barack Obama believes in science. And he’s already started campaigning [...] Superdelegate DeFazio Boards the Obama Train May 9 2008 9:40am The trickle of superdelegates flowing toward Barack Obama has been joined by one more Oregon congressman. Rep. Peter DeFazio of Springfield is set to appear with Obama at a town-hall meeting in Albany today, DeFazio spokeswoman Molly Simmons tells WWire. In Albany, DeFazio will announce his endorsement of Obama in the Illinois senator’s bid to outrace Hillary [...] Sisters of the Road pulls out of SAFE committee May 8 2008 10:44pm This morning, Sisters of the Road announced in a press conference outside of City Hall it was ending its involvement in the Mayor’s Street Access for Everyone (SAFE) oversight committee. “It’s a question we wrestled with a long time,” says Michael Buonocore, Sisters’ Associate Director, who said that Sisters had been debating for months about whether [...] Novick backed by Big Booster? May 8 2008 3:17pm At this point in the political season, it’s not unusual to see campaign signs making strange flower-bedfellows (such as the Obama-Ron Paul pairing I passed today). But a fortuitous placement of a public-service billboard at the corner of Northeast 28th Avenue and Sandy Boulevard makes us wonder if Steve Novick, the 4-foot-9-inch Democratic candidate for [...] Fish, Middaugh Go All Passive-Aggressive May 8 2008 12:40pm The top two contenders in the race for former Portland City Commissioner Erik Sten’s seat—Sten’s old chief of staff, the fire-juggling Jim Middaugh, and labor lawyer/beat poet Nick Fish—are on the air now. Middaugh bought a radio spot. Here’s the audio and here’s (some of) the script: “Hi, this is Jim Middaugh, and I’m running for Portland [...] Portlanders Hoping to See Barack or Hillary May Be SOL May 8 2008 11:58am We were as excited as anyone to hear the Democratic presidential candidates were planning to be in town at the same time on Friday morning. But it turns out the public may not be invited to see either candidate speak. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton just announced in dueling news releases that they’re holding closed-door meetings May [...] Hillary Clinton Coming to Portland (and what it has to do with a man named Lee) May 7 2008 2:54pm The campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton announced this afternoon that she’ll be coming to Portland for a to-be-determined event this Friday. No details yet on what she’ll be doing in Portland, but the visit comes after she’ll be spending tomorrow evening in southern Oregon participating in a town hall at the Jackson County Fair Grounds [...] Dozono Takes Credit for Killing Adams’ Bike Bridge—And He’s Probably Right (Updated) May 7 2008 2:44pm This morning, Portland mayoral candidate and Commissioner Sam Adams dropped his controversial $5.5 million plan to plop the old Sauvie Island Bridge over I-405 at Northwest Flanders Street. The “recycled” bridge would’ve been dedicated to bicyclists, walkers and the otherwise un-motored. The reason, he said, was new information from the Portland Office of Transportation, which Adams [...] O as in Obama and Oregon: Democratic front-runner coming this weekend May 7 2008 7:53am Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama is returning to Oregon this Friday and Saturday, his campaign announced this morning. No details yet on the where’s and when’s. We’ll update this when those details become available. While we wait, any thoughts on whether Hillary Clinton will pull the plug on her campaign before Oregon’s May 20 primary? Two [...] OMG!!! Chelsea Clinton to Hit Local Lesbian Bar Next Tuesday May 6 2008 12:52pm I guess the Red Dress Party was just a warm up. Just got word there is a very strong possibility that my new friend Chelsea Clinton is heading back to Portland for a very special appearance on Tuesday, May 13. Chelsea will be collecting ballots alongside out and very proud recording artist Sophie B. Hawkins. Where will they [...] |
