Judge rules Portland denied Gonzalez due process in campaign finance case
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Judge rules Portland denied Gonzalez due process in campaign finance case
A Multnomah County circuit judge ruled Thursday that the city auditor denied Rene Gonzalez due process. The judge did not directly address whether or not Gonzalez had violated campaign finance law. Gonzalez finished a distant third in the mayoral race, and was dogged by allegations of misusing campaign finance dollars for much of the campaign. The city auditor found that Gonzalez twice broke city campaign finance laws in his 2024 bid for the mayor’s office, and fined him $9,180 in one case, but that decision was later reversed on due process grounds. In a separate case, the city fined Gonzalez $2,400 last October for what it said was a misuse of city staff time, money and services.
In his ruling, Judge Melvin Oden-Orr did not directly address whether or not Gonzalez had violated campaign finance law.
Gonzalez finished a distant third in the mayoral race, and was dogged by allegations of misusing campaign finance dollars for much of the campaign.
Oden-Orr reversed City Auditor Simone Rede’s earlier decision, ruling that the city government’s actions deprived Gonzalez of his constitutional right to defend himself and have a full hearing on the matter before the decisions to fine him for the alleged violations.
“These complaints were a significant factor in the 2024 election, orchestrated and amplified by members of the region’s political power structure,” Gonzalez wrote in a Facebook post addressed to supporters on Thursday night. “While we cannot undo the election that these disputes tarnished, hopefully this decision will provide some justice for supporters and lay the groundwork for a fairer campaign finance system in the future.”
Rede, in a statement released by the city’s elections division, said her office would assess “options to make any necessary changes to the law. We will work with City Council to support voters’ interest in fair and transparent elections while respecting candidates’ individual due process rights.”
In one of the instances, Rede’s office levied a $9,180 last November, after finding that Gonzalez’s campaign had repeatedly failed to return donations that exceeded Portland’s contribution limits in a timely manner.
At the time, Gonzalez pushed back , saying that his campaign had “worked with the top treasury firm in the state that virtually every other candidate used and always acted in good faith to be compliant.”
Under city rules, candidates are required to decline or return any amount over $579 donated by an individual during an election cycle within seven calendar days. The limit tightens to $350 for those candidates participating in Portland’s public matching funds program, which Gonzalez had.
Portland’s campaign finance measure, passed by 87% of voters in 2018, amended the city charter to limit individual or political committee donations to $500 per election cycle in city races. The contribution limit is adjusted for inflation and is currently $613.
Under the city’s rules, campaigns for mayor, city council and auditor are also required to disclose top donors on advertisements and face other restrictions.
In a separate case, which Oden-Orr’s ruling also reversed on due process grounds, Rede’s office fined Gonzalez $2,400 last October for what it said was a misuse of city staff time, money and services when he paid a New York-based company $6,400 to help him highlight on his Wikipedia page that he is a Democrat.
— Julia Silverman covers K-12 education for the Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach her via email at jsilverman@oregonian.com
— Shane Dixon Kavanaugh covers Portland city government and politics, with a focus on accountability and watchdog reporting.