The winner of Portland's November 2024 mayoral election will become the first mayor under the city's new system of government in 2025, working with a professional city administrator to manage the city's executive functions and implement policy at the direction of a new 12-member city council.
The race includes three of the four current city commissioners: Carmen Rubio, Rene Gonzalez and Mingus Mapps. But it includes several other candidates who aren't part of the current city leadership, and two of the most prominent among that group are Keith Wilson and Liv Østhus.
Both candidates were guests on this week's episode of Straight Talk to discuss their campaigns, their vision for Portland and how they would approach the job under the new system of government. Neither candidate has held elected office before, but both say they view their outsider status as an asset in a race.