ARTICLE
The 2018 midterm election came to a close last Tuesday night. The Portland Metropolitan region saw several high profile races this election cycle, impacting the way our region approaches land development and residential building. No matter what the outcome, the HBA will continue to engage with and build valuable relationships with our regions elected officials to achieve pro-housing and building polices. The HBA’s Government Affairs Committee conducted candidate interviews throughout 2018, focusing on the region’s Mayoral races, bond campaigns, and local city and county races for the November election cycle. Additionally, a joint meeting of the HBA Board and Government Affairs Committee was held to address two critical items: the Metro Affordable Housing Bond and the Washington County Commission Chair race. For the most part there are no certainties in democratic elections, with the exception that there will be winners and losers. While not every one of our endorsed candidates made it through their hard fought races, as a whole our political efforts did pay off with many HBA supported candidates claiming victories in the primary election and several industry champions achieving office in the general. The following is a summary of the results for the HBA’s endorsed candidates and measures in both the 2018 primary and general elections. These endorsements were made following the Government Affairs Committee process of identifying key races, conducting candidate interviews and voting on which candidate to support as an organization.
Race
Candidates
Outcome
METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT 1
Shirley Craddick secured the position with 98% of the vote in the primary election
METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT 2
Christine Lewis secured the position with 50.8% of the vote in the general election
METRO COUNCIL DISTRICT 4
Juan Carlos Gonzalez secured the position with 58% of the vote in the primary election
PORTLAND CITY COMMISSION POSITION 2
Nick fish secured the position with 62% of the vote in the primary election
PORTLAND CITY COMMISSION POSITION 3
Jo Ann Hardesty secured the position with 62% of the vote in the general election
CLACKAMAS COUNTY COMMISSION POSITION 2
Paul Savas secured the position with 60% of the vote in the primary election
CLACKAMAS COUNTY COMMISSION POSITION 5
Sonya Fischer secured the position with 98.22% of the vote in the primary election
LAKE OSWEGO CITY COUNCIL
Daniel Ngyuen secured one of the Council positions with 20.5% of the vote, and John Wendland secured the other position with 16.6% of the vote in the general election
WILSONVILLE CITY COUNCIL
Charlotte Lehan secured one the Council positions with 31.9% of the vote, and Ben West secured the other position with 24.4% of the vote in the general election
TUALATIN MAYOR
Frank Bubenik secured the position with 55.67% of the vote in the general election
WASHINGTON COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIR
Kathryn Harrington secured the position with 58.9% of the vote in the general election
WASHINGTON COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICT 2
Pam Treece secured the position with 58% of the vote in the primary election
WASHINGTON COUNTY COMMISSION DISTRICT 4
Jerry Willey secured the position with 55% of the vote in the primary election
TIGARD MAYOR
Jason Snider secured the position with 43.5% of the vote in the general election
Bond Measures & Levies
Endorsement
North Clackamas Schools Bond Measure
SUPPORT
Approved with 51.8% of the vote in the general election
Metro Affordable Housing Bond
HBA to remain neutral
Approved with 59.17% of the vote in the general election
Happy Valley Parks Levy
Approved with 70% of the vote in the primary election
Tigard Operations Levy
Failed to pass with 55% voting no in the primary election