Portlanders now know the likely winners of a dozen City Council seats in 2025.

A very diverse group. Those 12 include longtime union leaders, policy experts, an economist, a nonprofit executive and a city commissioner of continuity.

Naturally, interest groups in the city that have something to lose or gain—businesses, nonprofit contractors, labor unions—are already counting the votes to see if they have the majority to advance their political interests.

We are counting too. We even made a power ranking of who had the best election night by ranking them from 1 to 5 to see who came to the ears of the city council members.

1. WORKERS UNIONS

The Northwest Oregon Labor Council, a coalition of the largest public sector unions in the city (including Oregon AFSCME, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and LiUNA), has endorsed eight of 12 future aldermen: Tiffany Koyama Lane, Candace Avalos, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Dan Ryan, Eric Zimmerman, Olivia Clark, Jamie Dunphy and Steve Novick.

All of these unions represent city employees. Some labor contracts in the city are about to expire, meaning negotiations are either imminent or ongoing. While some demands of the unions made the current City Council nervous, this transformation heralded a new era of solidarity.

Labor Council executive secretary and treasurer Laurie Wimmer said the political action committee convened this fall by her group, which includes the firefighters union and the Portland Teachers Association, was “pleased that 11 of the 12 city council members are labor.” friendly candidates.” (12th Channel Sameer Kanal is also labour-friendly; he joined the race late.)

2. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA

The socialist group, which wants an end to evictions and disinvestment in Israel, has been aggressively knocking on doors, endorsing only two candidates from four districts: Tiffany Koyama Lane in District 3 and Mitch Green in District 4. Both won seats on the council. Moreover, three candidates are likely to be at least friendly with DSA’s policy targets: Sameer Kanal in District 2, Candace Avalos in District 1, and Angelita Morillo in District 3. So five of the 12 candidates are likely open to the group’s goals.

“The election results were the same results that the Portland Metro Chamber feared when it initially opposed democratic reforms in the City Council,” says Brian Denning, co-chair of DSA in Portland. “The new council will include three of our endorsed candidates, three members of the DSA and five councilors who have signed our tenants’ bill of rights pledge. We know that bosses and real estate agents will oppose our agenda; “But we have the strength of a working class movement that is fed up with political inaction here and abroad.”

Denning adds that DSA’s policy priorities include addressing “Portland’s cost of living crisis, ecological threats from companies like Zenith Oil, and the spiral of US-funded genocide in Gaza.”

3. SOCIAL JUSTICE PROFIT INSTITUTIONS

These include the Latino Network, the Coalition of Communities of Color, and Verde, all of which benefit from city grant funding. This means they have something to protect.

Luckily for these nonprofits, they have a particularly strong advocate on the incoming council: Candace Avalos, who will give up her current role as Verde’s chief executive, and a handful of others who are friends with them, including Morillo, Green, Pirtle-Guiney. , Dunphy and Novick.

“Ranked voting has resulted in the kind of City Council we dream of, with a broad mix of backgrounds, gender equality, and race, age, and experience,” says Jenny Lee, executive director of a political action committee formed by social justice organizations to support progressive candidates this election cycle. diversity.” Seven of the candidates the PAC endorsed won seats on the City Council.

4. PORTLAND SUBWAY ROOM

The chamber of commerce, formerly known as the Portland Business Alliance and long a driver of policy at City Hall, found four candidates likely to support most of its policy goals. The foursome include Dan Ryan, Olivia Clark, Eric Zimmerman and Loretta Smith. Others who the Metro Chamber also endorses but are less likely to act in line with the business’s desires include Elana Pirtle-Guiney and Steve Novick.

That means the Metro Chamber likely accounts for six of the 12 supporters on the City Council; This means he will race but not win. It’s a humbling result for a band accustomed to having their calls answered first.

United for Portland, the chamber’s political action committee, has spent only modest amounts supporting City Council candidates. Instead, he spent most of his money on former Mayor Sam Adams’ bid for Multnomah County commissioner. No dice: Shannon Singleton beats it.

The chamber nevertheless stated that it was satisfied with the 12 members of the new council. “Half of the newly elected council was directly supported by United for Portland,” says Jon Isaacs, vice president of public affairs for the Metro Chamber. “While there may be some ideological differences in the new council, we observed broad agreement throughout the campaign on major priorities like ending unhoused homelessness, restarting housing production, improving public safety, and restoring the cleanliness and livability of Portland.”

5. PUBLIC SAFETY UNIONS

Perhaps no interest group appeared to have more momentum heading into the election than the unions representing police officers and firefighters. But it’s unclear at this point what kind of coalition public safety unions might form.

The police union has five winners endorsed by the City Council: Eric Zimmerman, Olivia Clark, Steve Novick, Dan Ryan and Loretta Smith. 5 out of 12 is a strong indicator, but the Portland Police Association’s endorsement of Novick is a bit puzzling considering his reputation as a staunch progressive during his last City Council term.

PPA president Aaron Schmautz said the union is “committed to working with all of our newly elected leaders to continue moving toward a unified and comprehensive approach to addressing our most pressing issues.”

Schmautz declined to say whether the PPA has enough votes on the City Council to advance policy goals, such as increasing the number of sworn officers to 1,000.

The Portland Firefighters Association saw four of its endorsement choices make it to the council. All three are backed by the police union, while the firefighters union also endorsed District 1’s Jamie Dunphy; This was a bit of a surprise.