Endorsements Process for the 2026 Portland Election

Our organization is pleased to announce this year’s endorsements process. We will be making strategic endorsements for Portland City Council’s Districts 3 and 4 races and ballot measures. This page is specific to endorsements of candidates — the process is described below for those candidates.

Endorsement Criteria

Portland: Neighbors Welcome makes endorsements of candidates who are viable and aligned with our values and housing agenda.

how to apply

Portland: Neighbors Welcome is participating in Oregon Futures Lab’s Portland Candidate Switchboard. Candidates applying for our endorsement should complete the Switchboard questions and our Portland: Neighbors Welcome Candidate Endorsement Questionnaire to be considered.

We recommend candidates make a copy of our endorsement questionnaire and draft their answers separately before submitting their application through our Portland: Neighbors Welcome Candidate Endorsement Questionnaire. If you have any questions, you can contact our Political and Organizing Director, Jesse Rawlins, at jesse@portlandneighborswelcome.org. Please keep each answer under 1800 characters or approximately 300 words.

After candidates have submitted questionnaire responses, a select number of candidates will be invited to participate in an interview.

our process

Our endorsement process is led by the Portland: Neighbors Welcome’s 2026 Endorsements Committee and our Board of Directors. The Endorsements Committee developed our questionnaire, and members will review responses to determine the best alignment with our values. Following our review of submitted questionnaire responses, we will be inviting a select number of candidates for interviews. Questionnaire responses, interviews, and candidate vitality will be used by the Committee to make endorsement recommendations to the Board to complete the process. This year, our Committee Members are Luke Norman, Dave Peticolas, Jennifer Park, David Binnig, Maisie Miller, and Heidi Hart with support from Jesse Rawlins as staff. A list of Board Members are available on our website.

endorsement timeline

Please submit your answers in the Portland: Neighbors Welcome Candidate Endorsement Questionnaire form by 5pm on August 17 to be considered for our endorsement. We will review applications through mid and late-August with interviews being held in September. Lastly, our endorsements will be announced later in September.

Portland: Neighbors Welcome QUESTIONNAIRE

  1. What do you think is the state of housing affordability in Portland? What do you think impacts housing affordability? If elected, what would you do to make housing more affordable?

  2. Do you believe that we need more housing of all kinds throughout the city? If so, have you taken action to support more abundant housing options in the past? What actions would you take while in office?

  3. If you are elected, would you support re-legalizing apartments throughout Inner Portland, including off corridors, and vote to approve the Inner Eastside Zoning Project?

  4. If you are elected, would you support building code changes including Single-Stair reform to increase housing production? Would you petition the Mayor to direct the Fire Marshal to implement Single-Stair reform?

  5. Social Housing is a housing model where publicly-owned buildings allow higher-income residents to cross-subsidize rent for lower-income tenants, avoiding the economic segregation of traditional public housing, with tenants having authority through resident-led boards. Do you support this type of housing policy? Why or why not?

  6. What city-level actions beyond rezoning would you support to unlock more homes?

  7. By 2045, Portland’s largest housing need is for households at or below 60% American Median Income (AMI), which will require substantially more funding. How would you address that?

  8. From 2025 to 2026, Multnomah County saw 12,232 evictions filed, mainly for the inability to pay rent, with a majority of those occurring in Portland. What existing policies do you support to reduce evictions and what other tenant protection policies would you advance?

  9. Portland’s history has experienced displacement of communities of color, with the Albina neighborhood being the most glaring example for the Black community. As Portland continues to grow, what anti-displacement strategies would you advance?

  10. What do you think causes homelessness?

  11. How should the City of Portland respond to homelessness? Would you expand, sustain, or end some of the interventions (encampment removals, i.e. sweeps, Portland Street Response, tiny home villages, mass overnight shelters, camping and sleeping bans). How would you balance immediate interventions with more sustainable solutions for permanent housing?

  12. Changes in housing and land use will also have impacts on Portland’s transportation system needs, including transit, congestion, parking, sidewalks, and bike lanes. How should Portland’s transportation policies adapt to support those changes?

  13. Is there anything else you would like us to know about your positions or background as we consider you for an endorsement?

  14. Are you currently a member of Portland: Neighbors Welcome?