On Tuesday, May 17, 2016, an election was held in Portland, Oregon, to elect the mayor.[2]Ted Wheeler was elected after garnering 54% of the primary vote.[1] Incumbent mayor Charlie Hales did not seek a second term.[3]
Portland uses a nonpartisan system for local elections, in which all voters are eligible to participate. All candidates are listed on the ballot without any political party affiliation.
Fifteen candidates competed in a blanket primary election on May 17, 2016.[4][5] As Ted Wheeler garnered 54% of the vote, a scheduled November 8 runoff election, scheduled in case that no candidate received an absolute majority, did not take place. Jules Bailey was the first runner-up in the primary, receiving 16% of the vote.[1][6][7]
The deadline for withdrawing from the race was March 11, 2016.[36] Incumbent mayor Charlie Hales was widely seen as the frontrunner in the election, announcing his bid for re-election in March 2015.[37][38] In an unexpected move in October 2015, however, Hales announced he would drop his re-election bid and focus on running the city during his final year in office.[3][39][40][41]