Adams is Portland's next mayor: city's first openly gay chief executive.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/elections/portland/

Adams is Portland's next mayor
Posted by The Oregonian May 20, 2008 21:30PM
Categories: 2008 Election, Politics, Portland
Sam Adams will be Portland's next mayor, the city's first openly gay chief executive.

Adams was easily outpacing his main rival Sho Dozono -- 58 percent to 34 percent -- tonight. The 11 other candidates in the race were far behind.

"As mayor, I will work hard," Adams declared less than an hour after the first count came in. He promised to "move the city forward," making Portland a cleaner, greener and better educated city with citizens' help.

Mayor Tom Potter stopped by Adams' party briefly, shook his hand and offered congratulations. Potter pledged to help Adams make the transition over the next seven months and prepare him for the challenges he'll face in the city's top job.

Dozono had conceded the race moments earlier: "I've always taken up challenges with a very short time frame. Obviously in this particular case, I didn't have enough time to get my message out."

"This has been a wonderful opportunity to present myself as a future mayor," he said. "Life is good no matter what happens. I've given 100 speeches, and I've got nothing to lose. Life is good."

Adams, 44, a first-term city commissioner who spent 11 years as former Mayor Vera Katz's chief of staff and right-hand man, said he was shocked by the early results and waited a bit before accepting his new mantle.

The top two candidates presented a stark contrast for voters: Adams is a self-professed policy wonk who wades deep into the details of government operations, and Dozono is a businessman who promised to provide an outsider's overarching vision and talked more in big sweep than specifics.

gay people who want to run for office. I love equality. Congratulations Mr. Adams.