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I'm actually really torn between voting for @sarahforpdx or writing in @TeressaLRaiford. I've been all in for Sarah Iannarone since she ran the last time, however the rise of the Write-In Raiford campaign has given me pause. 1/12
The Write-In Raiford campaign has depicted Sarah and her campaign as "white savior neo-liberals" "showing up to protests just for photo ops", and claim she's no different than @tedwheeler. I don't entirely agree with their assessments. 2/12
For as long as I've been following Sarah, she's been on the right side of almost every issue. She has SOLID policy proposals to deal with racial injustice, transportation, climate, houselessness, and more. I believe she would be a transformational mayor for Portland. 3/12
HOWEVER, I DON'T like how her campaign has responded (and neglected to respond) to calls for her to step aside and help lift a prominent Black woman/activist to a leadership by dropping out and devoting her resources/energy to electing Teressa. 4/12
The primary response I've seen from the Sarah Campaign has been, "A write-in vote for Raiford is a vote for Wheeler." Or "Write-in candidates are rarely successful." They're tired argument that disenfranchise those that might be more passionate about a different candidate. 5/12
They also don't address the valid issue/criticism of white saviorism and how this is the time for white people to get uncomfortable, make sacrifices, and step aside to let Black folx lead. 6/12
I do NOT want @tedwheeler to be reelected. He IS a centrist neo-liberal white savior who has completely FAILED at protecting his citizens from his violent PPB thugs and white supremacists. 7/12
In a perfect world, @tedwheeler would immediately RESIGN for his ongoing failures and we would have a MUCH more engaging/exciting race between Sarah and Teressa. 8/12
But I highly doubt he'll resign before the election, so the chances of enough people writing in Teressa ARE very slim and COULD take votes away from Sarah which COULD give us another four years of #TearGasTed. So I'm leaning towards voting for Sarah at this time. 9/12
But I will NEVER criticize ANYONE for voting for who they believe is the right person for the job, no matter how unlikely their chances are. If we're mad about "spoiler" candidates, we should be fighting like hell to get #RankedChoiceVoting passed in Portland and Oregon. 10/12
Lets stop demonizing the disenfranchised members of our community that are supporting "unlikely to win" candidates because mainstream candidates have been ignoring them and providing lip service without action for SO long. 11/12
Instead, lets find ways (like #RankedChoiceVoting, City Charter Reform, and others) to improve our voting system and systems of government to ensure those candidates ARE more viable and less voices are ignored or brushed off. 12/12
P.S. Apologies for the typos.
