Thank you, Portland!

Dear Friends,

I have to confess that I am nearly at a loss for how to describe my mixed emotions today. What the country now faces is…hard to fathom. Yet, I was blessed by the voters of Portland with an incredibly gratifying victory in the City Council race, as revealed this morning when the ranked-choice was run. In the end, I picked up enough votes in the final round and came out ahead of Jess Falero by about 54-45. For a first-time candidate, Jess gave us all a run for our money!

Ben Grant won the Portland City Council At-Large Race with about 54% of the vote in the final round of ranked choice voting.

In the context of a much larger disappointment, I want to carve out a little space for the bright spot we created here with my campaign. First, some thank yous: (1) to my family, who ably  shouldered the burden of my absences and interferences, (2) to my campaign team - Marpheen and Marcques, who made me feel like our opponents were running against three people at once, (3) to all the volunteers who spent time helping us knock doors and put up signs, (4) to my work and School Board colleagues who also tolerated/embraced the campaign, (5) to the Unions who endorsed me - MSNA and ILA, and (6) to the many, many people in Portland who shared their concerns and took time to listen to my message. These are the ingredients of a successful campaign that did us all proud.

Second, I want to commend the efforts of my four opponents. They all brought unique qualities to the debate, and I will try to take the best from all of them with me into this work. I recognize the many thousands of Portland voters who responded to them, and I think I can use their inspiration to add to my own program and that of the Council as a whole.

Third, I really think my victory sends a clear message that Portland is demanding two things - tangible progress on our biggest issues, and politics conducted differently. I ran on this, I believe it, and I will keep it as a North Star as my time on the Council unfolds.

Lastly, you know by now that my brand of politics includes sewing in some inspiration where I can. The thing on my mind today that ties together the national and the local is this bit of ancient rhetoric, altered for our little City of Portland. “Give us a place to stand, and we will move the world.”

We Portlanders reaffirmed our place to stand, while many others were shaken. From this foundation, we have to be the ones to move.

-Ben