PORTLAND DRIZZLE

🫶Friday. Happy May Day, Portland. Also International Workers’ Day and Beltane. Low-to-mid 60s today, warming to the high 70s Saturday and pushing near 90 by Sunday, which is crazy, right? Expect marches downtown today, a full weekend of live music and salsa, and the Portland Fire's first home game Sunday (pre-season) at Moda. Ballots are out, so let’s talk about elections.

Oregon's May 19 primary is three weeks out. Multnomah County ballots began arriving Wednesday. If yours isn't there by May 7, call elections at 503-988-8683. Mail it back by May 12 (the county's recommended safe deadline given USPS changes) or drop it at any of 30+ drop boxes by 8 p.m. on election night. Yes, vote-by-mail still works. The Trump executive order targeting it is tied up in court.

Portlanders won't see city or county races, those move to November under ranked choice voting. What's on your ballot: state legislative primaries, including several competitive Dem-vs.-progressive matchups the Chamber was secretly polling about this week. Statewide, Democrats and Republicans are choosing nominees for governor and all six congressional seats.

I won’t be making any endorsements, guys. It’s messy and I don’t think it fits for this little newsletter. Portland Mercury has some endorsements you can read HERE.

Multnomah County ballot info HERE. Track your ballot HERE

Voters in Washington County and Oregon's 38th House District have been getting phone and text surveys — from a firm called CS Research — that didn't disclose who was paying for them. Now we know: it's the Portland Metro Chamber of Commerce, which funneled $43,000 through its Portland Alliance PAC to probe support for moderate Democratic incumbents against progressive challengers ahead of May's primary. The Chamber confirmed it Wednesday. They say undisclosed polling is standard practice. Critics say it's dark money in a local legislative race. The primary is three weeks away. Oregon Capital Chronicle

Portland Public Schools Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong presented the district's proposed 2026–27 budget Tuesday: a $56.3 million deficit requiring 336 full-time positions eliminated — 112 school-based, 101 from specialized programs, 74 from the central office. It's the third consecutive year of major cuts. The worse news: officials are already projecting a $65 million hole the year after that. The teachers' union is calling on Governor Kotek to declare an education emergency and tap the state's billion-dollar Education Stability Fund. Kotek, so far, has not. She did say that the city couldn’t cut school days to plug the budget gap. Willamette Week

Hua Hin: A chef who cooked at a four-time Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Vancouver just soft-opened an elevated Thai spot on SE Hawthorne. Piyanut Schaeffer grew up in Hua Hin, a Thai beach town his mom basically taught him to cook. Dinner only for now, with more to come. Worth the trip. On Instagram HERE

M. B. gave them ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Yelp: “Everything about our experience was wonderful. We ordered a number of dishes to share and each was so good! My favorites - the Shrimp Toast was amazing as well as the Crab Fried Rice. Artwork, wood carvings, beautiful bar - all of it beautiful. Service was 100%. I can't wait to go again. I hope they're around for many years to come.”

On May 1, 1876, Astoria published its first daily newspaper- the Morning Astorian.

My first every peony is just about to open. I’m excited.

by Michael Simpson Contact: [email protected]