Teressa Raiford

Teressa Raiford is an American activist, community organizer, and political candidate who is best known for running for Mayor of Portland, Oregon in 2020[1] and for being the founder of Don't Shoot Portland.

Teressa Raiford
Raiford's official 2020 campaign portrait
Born
Teressa Raiford

Portland, Oregon, U.S.
OccupationActivist, community organizer, former political candidate
Movement

Political Campaigns

2012 Portland City Council election

Raiford attempted to unseat Amanda Fritz in the 2012 City Council elections. She finished in 4th out of 5th place with 3,840 votes (3.21%).

2014 Multnomah County Commission election

In the 2014 County Commission elections, Raiford attempted to unseat then Commissioner Loretta Smith. Raiford finished 3rd out of 4th place with 1,986 votes (6.56%).

2014 Multnomah County Commission Election, District 2
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Loretta Smith 23,644 78.11%
Nonpartisan Bruce Broussard 3,595 11.88
Nonpartisan Teressa Raiford 1,986 6.56
Nonpartisan Kelvin Hall 881 2.91%
none write-ins 163 0.54%
Total votes 1,092,746 100.0%

2016 Multnomah County Sheriff election

Raiford announced a write-in campaign against Mike Reese, former Portland Police chief, who was running unopposed.[2] Reese won with 96.55% of the vote.

Multnomah County Sheriff Election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Mike Reese (Incumbent) 88,146 96.55%
Nonpartisan Teressa Raiford (Write-in) 3,000 3.28%
write-ins 150 0.16%
Total votes 60,422 100%

2020 Portland Mayoral election

See also: 2020 Portland, Oregon mayoral election

Raiford announced her plan to run for mayor in late 2017,[3] being one of the first candidates to announce her plan. In late 2019 and early 2020, she began recruiting volunteers and actively campaigning. On May 19th, 2020, Raiford lost the primary election to Ted Wheeler and Sarah Iannarone, coming in 3rd place with 18,310 votes (8.40%).

Portland mayoral primary election, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Ted Wheeler (incumbent) 107,241 49.29%
Nonpartisan Sarah Iannarone 51,849 23.82%
Nonpartisan Teressa Raiford 18,310 8.40%
Nonpartisan Ozzie González 12,632 5.80%
Nonpartisan Bruce Broussard 11,336 5.20%
Nonpartisan Randy Rapaport 3,816 1.75%
Nonpartisan Piper Crowell 3,272 1.50%
Nonpartisan Mark White 2,308 1.06%
Nonpartisan Cash Carter 1,488 0.68%
Nonpartisan Sharon Joy 901 0.42%
Nonpartisan Willie Banks 789 0.36%
Nonpartisan Daniel Hoffman 702 0.32%
Nonpartisan Michael O'Callaghan 629 0.29%
Nonpartisan Michael Burleson 406 0.19%
Nonpartisan Lew Humble 299 0.14%
Nonpartisan Michael Jenkins 262 0.12%
Nonpartisan Beryl McNair 259 0.12%
Nonpartisan Jarred Bepristis 105 0.05%
Nonpartisan Floyd LaBar 95 0.04%
Write-in 861 0.40%
Total votes 217,560 100.00%

Activism

In 2014, after her nephew Andre Dupree Payton[4] was shot and killed on September 26 in a murder that remains unsolved,[5] Raiford started Don't Shoot Portland, a group of activists who work for police accountability within the Portland Police Bureau and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.[6][7]

In 2015 Raiford was arrested, charged and jailed[8] for obstructing traffic and disorderly conduct by five officers, at a march she had organised to honor Michael Brown, a black man shot by a police officer in Ferguson. In 2016 the case was dismissed by a jury, and it 2017 Raiford filed a lawsuit claiming damages of $500,000[9] for "saying she was signaled out for her outspokenness against police violence and claiming officers made disparaging comments as they arrested her". The case was dismissed by a judge in 2019.[10]

In 2016, Raiford was one of 18 subjects selected in the book "Death:An Oral History"by Casey Jarman.[8]

Raiford has opposed the use of tear gas by law enforcement and has helped file a lawsuit against the city of Portland.[11]

References
  1. "Don't Shoot Founder Runs for Mayor". portlandobserver.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  2. "Write-in Campaign for Sheriff". portlandobserver.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  3. Sevcenko, Melanie. "Teressa Raiford Running for City Mayor 2020". The Skanner News. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  4. Young, Ashari (22 June 2016). "Smith to Retire in a Year -- But Parents Want her Fired Now". The Skanner. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  5. "ANDRE DUPREE PAYTON". City of Portland Police Bureau. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  6. "ABOUT US – Don't Shoot Portland". Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  7. VanderHart, Dirk (October 24, 2016). "Don't Shoot Portland's Teressa Raiford Wants to be Sheriff". The Portland Mercury. Index Publishing. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  8. Casey Jackman. "Death:An Oral History". ISBN 978-1-942186-12-0. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  9. Oregon, About Karina Brown Reporter for Courthouse News I. cover legal issues throughout. "Don't Shoot Portland Activist Teressa Raiford Sues City for $500,000 Over Her Arrest at Protest". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  10. "Judge dismisses lawsuit filed by Don't Shoot PDX organizers Teressa Raiford over her arrest at a Portland protest". wweek.com. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  11. Staff, KATU (June 5, 2020). "Don't Shoot PDX, others suing Portland to end use of tear gas". KATU.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.