Portland Councilor Mitch Green Turns Anti-Police Posts Into Re-Election Boost as Socialist Mayors Rise
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 15
Portland Councilor Mitch Green Turns Anti-Police Posts Into Re-Election Boost as Socialist Mayors Rise
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 15
Summary
Mitch Green’s re-election bid gained money and visibility after old posts surfaced in which the Portland councilor called police officers “bastards” and “absolute monsters.”
The backlash was immediate: the police union chief demanded his resignation, the police chief said he had lost confidence in Green, and Mayor Keith Wilson vowed not to back candidates who support defunding police.
Green, a democratic socialist, refused to recant, calling his language “spicy” but standing by the underlying views as the controversy became a test of Portland’s political direction.
The fight fits a wider urban shift: Providence’s David Morales, who once called police “criminals with badges,” is poised to become mayor, and Washington’s Janeese Lewis George is favored in a mayoral race three weeks away.