MAYOR’S RACE UPDATE
In July, Portland City Councilor Justin Costa withdraws from the mayor’s race.
In a press release Costa cites personal reasons for quitting the campaign. “We had a death in the family, a serious cancer scare, and I just got engaged last week. All of that has meant that I haven’t been able to dedicate my time to campaigning, and I don’t see that changing fast enough to allow me to run the kind of campaign I want to,” said Costa.
Costa Withdraws, Endorses Two Candidates
Costa encourages his supporters to vote for either Councilor Spencer Thibodeau or former school board member Kate Snyder. In Portland, voters can rank their favorite candidates in order of preference using a ranked choice voting system. So, Costa’s supporters could rank both Thibodeau and Snyder along with all other candidates.
Justin Costa says of Thibodeau and Snyder, “Whatever differences we may have are more like a family squabble than anything else. Both are honest people who know how to work with others, and either would be a huge improvement over our current Mayor.”
City Councilor Belinda Ray withdrew from the race a couple weeks before Costa and also cited personal reasons. Both former candidates will continue to serve in their roles as City Councilors.
As of July 22nd, in addition to Councilor Spencer Thibodeau and Kate Snyder, current Mayor Ethan Strimling may face up to three other candidates. Thaddeus M. St. John of Sheridan Street, Travis Curran of Emerson Street, and Joseph Bernatche of Forest Avenue have taken out paperwork. Candidate petitions were made available by the City Clerk on July 1st . Petitions may be filed between August 12th and the August 26th deadline.
