We've Got A Race—Again! Jules Bailey Is Running For Portland Mayor.

Portland Mercury:

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Several evenings ago, Jules Bailey was putting his infant son down for bed, he says, when a thought occurred to him.

"How do I tell this kid to fight for folks.... but I didn't do it when our city needed it?" Bailey told the Mercury this morning. "We can't wait four more years."

And with that thought, Portland's rollercoaster political landscape suddenly had a mayoral race on its hands—again. Bailey confirms he'll run against state Treasurer Ted Wheeler in next year's mayoral primary, painting himself as the progressive candidate Wheeler's not.

"He's running a campaign that’s based on being the only available choice," says Bailey, who's 36. "It’s less about wanting to be mayor of this city and more about just wanting a position."

The move injects fresh energy into a race that for weeks has looked pre-ordained. When Mayor Charlie Hales announced he wouldn't seek re-election in late October, the city's news media cast about breathlessly for credible candidates who would test Wheeler. None emerged.

"As recently as a couple weeks ago, I had thought I would not do it," Bailey says, adding he felt compelled "in the absence of folks stepping up."

In Bailey, the race has another smart candidate with a track record of winning political contests. A Portland-born economist with a degree from Princeton, Bailey spent time working in New York City and for local consulting firm ECONorthwest before landing a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives in 2008. Just last year, he won a spot on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. (Read our endorsement of Bailey in that race here. Interestingly several of his colleagues on the county commission—Judy Shiprack and Diane McKeel—have been beating the drum for Wheeler.

The issues Bailey wants to talk about are fairly obvious: Homelessness, the housing affordability crisis, racial inequity. But Bailey, who's often called himself a "wonk" and "nerd" says he'll look deeper into these issues than Wheeler, whom he criticizes as offering, for instance, "cookie-cutter" ideas on solving homelessness. He also calls Wheeler a "competent manager," though, and notes he worked well with the treasurer as a state representative.

Bailey's calling himself a "progressive leader," which will sound familiar to anyone who's followed this chaotic mayor's race. Both Hales, when he was running, and Wheeler have used the term as a cudgel.

If the issues and rhetoric from Bailey and Wheeler seem similar, though, their fundraising is not. Bailey has vowed to turn down campaign contributions higher than $250, a move clearly designed to separate himself from the state treasurer—who's independently wealthy and has been raking in cash.

"The politicos of this world will scream that’s suicide," he says. "I don’t think it is."

The move means Bailey will be constrained in terms of both money and time. The mayoral primary is in May. The county commissioner says he's not sweating it, and is counting on support from labor, environmental advocates, and members of the faith community.

"Six months is an eternity in politics."

Wheeler's campaign says it's working on a statement.

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