ARTICLE
Measure 118: A Major Win for Housing The defeat of Measure 118 is a significant win for Oregon's homebuilding industry. This measure, funded by out-of-state interests, would have levied severe consequences for businesses and consumers by imposing a wide-ranging sales tax on products made or sold in Oregon. With the measure defeated by a decisive 78% "No" vote, the state avoids an unfair tax that would have hampered the housing industry, among other sectors. This result serves as a warning to out-of-state interests that Oregon voters are wary of poorly crafted ballot measures and new taxes. The measure’s failure is attributed to an effective and disciplined campaign by the business community, with contributions from homebuilder members and many others in the housing industry supporting. Thank you to all of our members who helped HBA defeat this tax! National Election Impact On the national stage, Republicans have secured a "red wave" by making economic issues central to their campaigns, with early projections suggesting they will retain control of the House and flip the Senate and White House. However, the electoral math at the national level appears to be absent from many political calculations here locally. Perhaps most notable of that digression is in Clackamas County, where Democrat Janelle Bynum has officially flipped OR-5, the Congressional seat currently held by Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Bymum narrow victory was won by gaining a higher turnout in the more urban centers of Multnomah, Clackamas, and Deschutes counties. Local County Races Clackamas County: Following our local Congressional contests, the political balance on the Clackamas County Commission saw a leftward shift and a new democratic majority. Craig Roberts, a moderate Democrat, defeated incumbent conservative Chair Tootie Smith in a decisive 14-point win, signaling a more centrist direction for the county government. In the open County Commission race, HBA-endorsed Melissa Fireside, a political newcomer with experience in residential development, is leading over Mark Shull, the one-term incumbent who had drawn fire for making incendiary public comments on several social issues. With Commissioner Martha Schrader’s primary victory, this solidifies a Democratic majority on the 5-seat board. Multnomah County: Voters in Multnomah County elected a progressive majority to the County Commission. Shannon Singleton triumphed over former Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and Meghan Moyer beat Vadim Mozorsky, both with comfortable margins. Local City Races Hillsboro: A bright-spot for HBA’s endorsed candidates is in Hillsboro, where all three of our favored candidates easily swept the Council, protecting the business-friendly bloc of that electoral body. Beach Pace glided into victory with 74% of the vote to become the next Mayor, while Elizabeth Case and Rob Harris each won their contests for City Council seats with comfortable margins. Saba Anvery is a newer candidate who won an uncontested seat on council as well. Wilsonville: Far closer are the races for City Council in Wilsonville, where several candidates are still running neck-and-neck. However, the decisive victory for HBA’s endorsed Mayoral Candidate Shawn O’Neil is a notable victory. The two leading candidates for Council offer stark differences in their political vision for the city—Anne Shevlin and Adam Cunningham are both pulling ahead in a 4-way race that is still within just a few hundred votes. Shevlin is a proponent of more housing and a greater diversity of it (with vocal support of the Town Center plan) whereas Cunningham is a vocal opponent of the Town Center plan and increased density. Tigard: We saw a fairly predictable outcome in the city, with three HBA-endorsed incumbents—Maureen Wolf, Jeanette Shaw, and Jake Schlack—easily winning re-election. Newcomers Faraz Ghoddusi and Heather Robbins also secured seats on the commission, which expanded from 5 to 7 councilors from a recently passed charter amendment. Portland: The most significant surprise in the entire state came in Portland's mayoral race, where political outsider Keith Wilson won in a landslide, defeating incumbents Carmen Rubio, Rene Gonzalez, and Mingus Mapps. Wilson’s hyper-focus on ending unsheltered homelessness and tackling open-air drug use appears to have resonated deeply with voters. On the race for City Council, we saw a total of 98 candidates file to run for the newly created 12-member board envisioned by the recently passed Charter Reform. The novel use of multi-member, ranked-choice voting using a single-transferrable vote structure made predicting the electoral math nearly impossible. What we saw from the results certainly follows our early polling which said the electorate favored candidates who are experienced public servants, progressive, focused on public safety. Below is the list of candidates who won, with HBA-endorsed candidates bolded. District 1 (E. Portland): Candace Avalos, Loretta Smith, Jamie Dunphy District 2 (N. Portland): Dan Ryan, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Sameer Kanal District 3 (SE Portland): Steve Novick, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo District 4 (W. Portland): Olivia Clark, Mitch Green, Eric Zimmerman Gresham: Keeping a relatively stable council makeup, Gresham elected each of HBA’s endorsed candidates—including Council President Sue Piazza as well as newcomers Kayla Brown and Cathy Keathley. This forms what is seen by many as one of the more pragmatic and functional City Councils in the region. Gresham’s newly appointed City Manager Eric Schmidt will also bring needed stability to the city government that has several ongoing financial problems. Yamhill + McMinnville: In Yamhill County, conservative incumbent Lindsay Berschauer is trailing David "Bubba" King, while in McMinnville, Mayor Remy Drabkin is losing to Kim Morris. These tight races reflect a shift in local political sentiment in Yamhill County, with voters seeking change, though not necessarily along clear ideological lines. Sandy: Sandy's mayoral race shows Kathleen Walker beating out Laurie Smallwood, with Walker advocating for anti-growth policies like raising System Development Charges (SDCs) and slowing housing growth and density. This result highlights concerns about the future of development in smaller, rural communities and underscores the need for more education around the benefits of new housing and economic development. King City & North Plains: In both King City and North Plains, anti-growth messaging appears to have taken hold, with a majority of winning candidates opposing recent urban growth boundary (UGB) expansions. As in Sandy, these results raise serious concerns about the future of land use planning in small, rural communities in Oregon and the need to better educate our newly elected leaders on the virtues of robust, community-guided development. Conclusion The election results reflect a mix of wins and challenges for the housing industry. While several races resulted in business-friendly victories, particularly in Hillsboro, Gresham, and Tigard, there are rising concerns in areas like Sandy, King City, and North Plains, where anti-growth sentiment and opposition to new housing development are gaining ground. As local political landscapes shift, ongoing advocacy will be crucial to ensuring that housing needs are met and that communities continue to grow in a sustainable way. As always, HBA will remain engaged in our advocacy across the region in prioritizing a robust policy platform to encourage needed housing production.
Measure 118: A Major Win for Housing The defeat of Measure 118 is a significant win for Oregon's homebuilding industry. This measure, funded by out-of-state interests, would have levied severe consequences for businesses and consumers by imposing a wide-ranging sales tax on products made or sold in Oregon. With the measure defeated by a decisive 78% "No" vote, the state avoids an unfair tax that would have hampered the housing industry, among other sectors. This result serves as a warning to out-of-state interests that Oregon voters are wary of poorly crafted ballot measures and new taxes. The measure’s failure is attributed to an effective and disciplined campaign by the business community, with contributions from homebuilder members and many others in the housing industry supporting. Thank you to all of our members who helped HBA defeat this tax! National Election Impact On the national stage, Republicans have secured a "red wave" by making economic issues central to their campaigns, with early projections suggesting they will retain control of the House and flip the Senate and White House. However, the electoral math at the national level appears to be absent from many political calculations here locally. Perhaps most notable of that digression is in Clackamas County, where Democrat Janelle Bynum has officially flipped OR-5, the Congressional seat currently held by Republican Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Bymum narrow victory was won by gaining a higher turnout in the more urban centers of Multnomah, Clackamas, and Deschutes counties. Local County Races Clackamas County: Following our local Congressional contests, the political balance on the Clackamas County Commission saw a leftward shift and a new democratic majority. Craig Roberts, a moderate Democrat, defeated incumbent conservative Chair Tootie Smith in a decisive 14-point win, signaling a more centrist direction for the county government. In the open County Commission race, HBA-endorsed Melissa Fireside, a political newcomer with experience in residential development, is leading over Mark Shull, the one-term incumbent who had drawn fire for making incendiary public comments on several social issues. With Commissioner Martha Schrader’s primary victory, this solidifies a Democratic majority on the 5-seat board. Multnomah County: Voters in Multnomah County elected a progressive majority to the County Commission. Shannon Singleton triumphed over former Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and Meghan Moyer beat Vadim Mozorsky, both with comfortable margins. Local City Races Hillsboro: A bright-spot for HBA’s endorsed candidates is in Hillsboro, where all three of our favored candidates easily swept the Council, protecting the business-friendly bloc of that electoral body. Beach Pace glided into victory with 74% of the vote to become the next Mayor, while Elizabeth Case and Rob Harris each won their contests for City Council seats with comfortable margins. Saba Anvery is a newer candidate who won an uncontested seat on council as well. Wilsonville: Far closer are the races for City Council in Wilsonville, where several candidates are still running neck-and-neck. However, the decisive victory for HBA’s endorsed Mayoral Candidate Shawn O’Neil is a notable victory. The two leading candidates for Council offer stark differences in their political vision for the city—Anne Shevlin and Adam Cunningham are both pulling ahead in a 4-way race that is still within just a few hundred votes. Shevlin is a proponent of more housing and a greater diversity of it (with vocal support of the Town Center plan) whereas Cunningham is a vocal opponent of the Town Center plan and increased density. Tigard: We saw a fairly predictable outcome in the city, with three HBA-endorsed incumbents—Maureen Wolf, Jeanette Shaw, and Jake Schlack—easily winning re-election. Newcomers Faraz Ghoddusi and Heather Robbins also secured seats on the commission, which expanded from 5 to 7 councilors from a recently passed charter amendment. Portland: The most significant surprise in the entire state came in Portland's mayoral race, where political outsider Keith Wilson won in a landslide, defeating incumbents Carmen Rubio, Rene Gonzalez, and Mingus Mapps. Wilson’s hyper-focus on ending unsheltered homelessness and tackling open-air drug use appears to have resonated deeply with voters. On the race for City Council, we saw a total of 98 candidates file to run for the newly created 12-member board envisioned by the recently passed Charter Reform. The novel use of multi-member, ranked-choice voting using a single-transferrable vote structure made predicting the electoral math nearly impossible. What we saw from the results certainly follows our early polling which said the electorate favored candidates who are experienced public servants, progressive, focused on public safety. Below is the list of candidates who won, with HBA-endorsed candidates bolded. District 1 (E. Portland): Candace Avalos, Loretta Smith, Jamie Dunphy District 2 (N. Portland): Dan Ryan, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Sameer Kanal District 3 (SE Portland): Steve Novick, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo District 4 (W. Portland): Olivia Clark, Mitch Green, Eric Zimmerman Gresham: Keeping a relatively stable council makeup, Gresham elected each of HBA’s endorsed candidates—including Council President Sue Piazza as well as newcomers Kayla Brown and Cathy Keathley. This forms what is seen by many as one of the more pragmatic and functional City Councils in the region. Gresham’s newly appointed City Manager Eric Schmidt will also bring needed stability to the city government that has several ongoing financial problems. Yamhill + McMinnville: In Yamhill County, conservative incumbent Lindsay Berschauer is trailing David "Bubba" King, while in McMinnville, Mayor Remy Drabkin is losing to Kim Morris. These tight races reflect a shift in local political sentiment in Yamhill County, with voters seeking change, though not necessarily along clear ideological lines. Sandy: Sandy's mayoral race shows Kathleen Walker beating out Laurie Smallwood, with Walker advocating for anti-growth policies like raising System Development Charges (SDCs) and slowing housing growth and density. This result highlights concerns about the future of development in smaller, rural communities and underscores the need for more education around the benefits of new housing and economic development. King City & North Plains: In both King City and North Plains, anti-growth messaging appears to have taken hold, with a majority of winning candidates opposing recent urban growth boundary (UGB) expansions. As in Sandy, these results raise serious concerns about the future of land use planning in small, rural communities in Oregon and the need to better educate our newly elected leaders on the virtues of robust, community-guided development.
Conclusion The election results reflect a mix of wins and challenges for the housing industry. While several races resulted in business-friendly victories, particularly in Hillsboro, Gresham, and Tigard, there are rising concerns in areas like Sandy, King City, and North Plains, where anti-growth sentiment and opposition to new housing development are gaining ground. As local political landscapes shift, ongoing advocacy will be crucial to ensuring that housing needs are met and that communities continue to grow in a sustainable way. As always, HBA will remain engaged in our advocacy across the region in prioritizing a robust policy platform to encourage needed housing production.