Portland United for Change Announces Fundraising Update and Strong Show of Support from Donors
Press Release: Tuesday, September 6th, 2022
Contact: Damon Motz-Storey, damon [at] colororegon [dot] com
Portland United for Change Announces Fundraising Update and Strong Show of Support from Donors as Charter Reform (Measure 26-228) is Officially Referred by City Auditor
Individual and organization contributions show momentum is growing for Portland voters to approve charter reform (Measure 26-228) for better city services and local representation.
Campaign has raised just under $200,000 with another $200,000 on the way in pledges
[PORTLAND, ORE.] — Today, the Portland United for Change campaign released a fundraising update and disclosed its donors on the same day as its official referral by the City Auditor to the November 2022 ballot. Portland charter reform will appear as Measure 26-228 on the ballot this Fall.
“We’re reaching out to voters in all parts of the City to say: change can’t wait, vote yes on 26-228!” said Sol Mora, campaign manager for Portland United for Change, the campaign for Portland charter reform.
To date, the Portland United for Change campaign has secured $195,000 in cash and in-kind contributions, with thousands more raised in pledged contributions. Individual donors have accounted for $52,000 of funds raised thus far, with 66 unique individual donors and an average individual donation of $785. This figure does not include $50,000 pledged by the North Star Action Center, and will continue to grow from more than $150,000 in committed in-kind donations of staffing support from organizations that have endorsed the measure. In total, the campaign has raised just under $400,000 in cash, in-kind support, and pledged donations.
The campaign’s top 5 donor entities so far are Oregon Ranked Choice Voting, FairVote, Building Power for Communities of Color, Northwest Health Foundation, and North Star Action Center. The campaign lists over 35 endorsing organizations, including dozens of community based organizations serving and advocating for Portlanders throughout the city (NAACP Portland Branch, League of Women Voters of Portland, the ACLU of Oregon, and more). Over the Labor Day Weekend, the campaign announced union endorsements of LiUNA Local 737 (Laborers’ International Union of North America) and the Portland Association of Teachers.
Now that the City of Portland has officially referred the charter reform measure to the Multnomah county elections office for processing, the Portland United for Change political committee will be registered by our treasurer, C&E Systems. Once this has been completed, a full donor list will be visible on ORESTAR (Oregon Elections Systems Tracking and Reporting). C&E Systems serves as Portland United for Change’s treasurer and has extensive experience navigating this process for ballot measure campaigns.
The charter reform measure was referred to Portland’s November 2022 ballot by an overwhelming majority of the Portland Charter Commission, an independent body appointed once every ten years to suggest improvements to city government. 17 out of the 20 members of the Charter Commission supported the proposal, which will increase the size of Portland City Council from 5 to 12 members, allow voters to rank all local candidates in order of preference, and transfer oversight of city services from council members to a professional city administrator. Polling from FM3 Research, GBAO Strategies, and Lake Research Partners show broad support for all aspects of the reform measure.
Learn more about the Portland charter reform measure at PortlandUnitedForChange.com
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