Three of the four Democratic Socialists of America-affiliated councilors elected in 2024 are seeking another term: Green in District 4, and Angelita Morillo and Tiffany Koyama Lane in District 3. Campaigns and political action committees are spending to influence voters as candidates debate public safety, taxes and the role of business in city policy.

Billboards criticizing Green say he raised taxes, failed to pay his own taxes and started a backyard fire during a burn ban. Green did owe $7,328 in taxes, but paid the bill in full after a reporter contacted him. He said he believed the balance had been paid through escrow. He also acknowledged the fire, calling it “a profoundly stupid thing to do.”

State records list local activist Kyle Prosen as treasurer of three committees associated with the billboard effort: DitchMitch, goPDX and fix multCo. Prosen said in a September interview that he had been briefed on the committees but did not always remember the details. United for Portland Action Fund, which is aligned with the Portland Metro Chamber, is the campaign’s top funder. The Chamber’s executive director previously described the group’s election goal as stopping DSA from taking over the council.

On Oct. 5, software engineer and elections watchdog Seth Woolley filed a 182-page complaint alleging 16 potential campaign-finance violations. It alleges that United for Portland established the three committees to obscure the original sources of money for the billboard campaign, and that the committees began campaigning before registering with the state. The complaint also alleges false dates and incomplete disclosures. Potential penalties cited in the complaint range from civil fines for late reporting to, for some alleged violations, a Class C felony carrying up to $125,000 in fines and five years in prison. The allegations are not findings of wrongdoing.

Another political committee, Go Portland Go, describes itself as a grassroots coalition seeking to make Portland a model of progressive governance. Its stated priorities include public-safety funding, support for businesses and reducing taxes, fees and regulations. The committee has endorsed centrist candidates, but none of the DSA-affiliated candidates.

State records show that the committee’s largest donor is Partnership for Progress, which gave $32,000 in June. The advocacy group has opposed policies advanced by progressive councilors, including the high-income-earner tax funding Preschool for All, and supported increased police funding. Its co-leader Vadim Mozyrsky also serves on Go Portland Go’s steering committee. Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle and Swickard Auto Group CEO Jeff Swickard each donated $25,000, records show. Boyle has also given to conservative political efforts, including a failed Portland ballot measure that would have used Clean Energy Fund money to hire police officers.

Some local businesses have publicly backed Go Portland Go. Andy Fortgang, co-owner of restaurants Le Pigeon and Canard, said he supported the committee because employees and customers had faced harassment and safety concerns outdoors. He also clashed with progressive councilors over Green’s successful foie gras ban.

Labor support is also contested. In a social media video from a private Labor Day picnic hosted by the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, Prosen suggested DSA candidates were not invited because they might not support unions. But the candidates’ campaign websites list endorsements or support from a range of unions, including AFSCME, SEIU, the Portland Association of Teachers, Teamsters and the Oregon Federation of Teachers. The labor council’s executive leadership has previously criticized DSA councilors.

Police policy has become another flashpoint. Mayor Wilson said in a late-September television interview that he could not endorse candidates who advocate abolishing police, and said Green, Morillo and Koyama Lane had committed to that position. The source material does not establish that all three did so. The DSA national platform calls for eventual police abolition alongside community investment and police demilitarization.

Koyama Lane rejected the portrayal of her position as an effort to eliminate policing immediately. She said Portland needs to send the appropriate responder to each situation, fund crime-prevention programs and reserve police for emergencies. The November vote will determine whether the incumbents retain their seats amid competing claims about public safety, progressive governance and the influence of wealthy donors.