Julia Brim-Edwards is wrong for Multnomah County.

AFSCME Local 88 members vote to pull Brim-Edwards endorsement and instead support Singleton

News outlets are reporting that AFSCME Local 88 members voted to withdraw its endorsement of Julia Brim-Edwards and instead back County Commissioner Shannon Singleton. The vote took place Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the union’s monthly general meeting. AFSCME’s endorsement was highly coveted, so this change is a major development. Willamette Week • Portland Mercury • The Oregonian

County employees release ‘Statement of No Confidence’ about Brim-Edwards serving as MultCo Chair

Dozens of current and former Multnomah County employees have signed a Statement of No Confidence in Julia Brim-Edwards as Multnomah County Chair. The group emphasizes they are acting in their personal capacities.

“The County’s effectiveness depends on the integrity, transparency, and accountability of all – including the Chair. County leadership must meet the highest standards to protect civil rights, prioritize community needs, and steward public resources responsibly. As it stands, we do not believe Brim-Edwards meets that necessary standard.”

The statement focuses on three categories of concern:

• A betrayal of Multnomah County's values of diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Prioritizing corporate interests and law enforcement over health and human services

• Consistent lack of transparency, collaboration, and process

Read the full letter here.

Willamette Week raises serious concerns about Brim-Edwards serving as County chair, ranks Singleton #1

From the Willamette Week’s editorial:

“Brim-Edwards says the county needs a leader who can get things done. We agree. But after 20 years of watching her in multiple areas of civic life, we still struggle to understand what her animating principles are—and we see a worrying pattern of Brim-Edwards placing political expediency above principle.”

No example illustrates this better than Brim-Edwards’ dealings with the most recent Portland Public Schools bond. Just weeks ahead of its referral, she revived a months-old proposal to include a $40 million commitment to a Center for Native Student Success, even as her fellow board members were largely concerned about the bond’s ballooning costs. As they struck down the measure, she got to look like the champion for Native students. In that same cycle, she pushed for the district to pause its high school projects to find cost savings as PPS made headlines for some of the most expensive school rebuilds in the nation. The effort led to minimal cost savings, and the pause ended up increasing some construction costs.

Later, when the measure appeared in danger of being rejected by voters, Brim-Edwards disengaged from the campaign to pass it and took her concerns public. Then, she took a victory lap after it passed anyway.” Read the full endorsement.

Basic Rights Oregon rescinds Brim-Edwards’ endorsement due to statements she made in private PPS meeting

Basic Rights Oregon rescinded its endorsement of Julia Brim-Edwards for MultCo Chair. The 30-year-old LGBTQ2SIA+ organization learned that during private PPS meetings last year, Brim-Edwards raised concerns that trans athletes might hurt scholarship opportunities for other kids, a false claim that mirrors language used by Trump and his allies.

BRO also learned that Brim-Edwards wanted PPS to consider stricter guidelines for trans athletes' participation in sports. PPS must follow state guidelines. The Oregon Department of Education released its first guidance on creating a safe, supportive environment for transgender students in 2016. Basic Rights Oregon consulted on this guidance.

“All of our kids, including trans kids, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. We need to elect leaders who recognize that all kids belong and should have the opportunity to participate in youth sports and other school activities. Families of trans folks are moving to Oregon expecting safety. The largest and most powerful county in the state should have their backs.” – Basic Rights Oregon News

The PAC Board originally endorsed Shannon Singleton and Brim-Edwards in September. After receiving this new information, it unanimously determined that Brim-Edwards does not embody the values Basic Rights Oregon PAC expects of candidates who carry its endorsement.

“Our endorsement is more than a name on a campaign website or a line in a voters’ pamphlet. It represents our trust that a candidate will stand with LGBTQ2SIA+ Oregonians — including when doing so is difficult, unpopular, or politically inconvenient,” said Kyndall Mason, Executive Director of Basic Rights Oregon PAC. “Based on information we learned after making our original endorsement, we no longer believe Julia Brim-Edwards meets that standard.” Learn more.

Two former Basic Rights Oregon executive directors say the organization had an ethical responsibility to rescind endorsement

Oregonians deserve leaders who stand with us not only when the cameras are rolling and the spotlight is warm, but also behind closed doors when critical decisions are being made about our lives. That standard matters — especially now, when transgender people and their families are facing unprecedented attacks across the country. 

Basic Rights Oregon's PAC Board has an ethical responsibility to rescind its endorsement of Julia Brim-Edwards for Multnomah County Chair after learning she made private statements that contradicted her public comments. The nine-member PAC Board voted unanimously to withdraw its endorsement after confidential conversations with three people who attended a private Portland Public Schools meeting where Brim-Edwards raised unfounded concerns that trans athletes might harm scholarship opportunities for other students – a false claim that mirrors language used by Trump and his allies. Brim-Edwards also encouraged PPS to consider stricter guidelines for trans athletes to participate in sports, in direct conflict with Oregon’s statewide protections. Read their full statement here

Police Association, Portland Metro Chamber launch new PAC to elect Brim-Edwards

The Willamette Week reports that the Portland Metro Chamber and the Portland Police Association created a new PAC to elect Julia Brim-Edwards as MultCo chair and to upend progressive City Councilors Tiffany Koyama Lane, Angelita Morillo, and Mitch Green. We won’t know how much they spent until after the election, but Portland Metro Chamber and its corporate donors have already spent thousands on billboards attacking Mitch Green and calling Brim-Edwards a “progressive” to mislead voters. They also co-opted Sharon Meiran’s Fixing Multnomah campaign tagline, which outlines Meiran’s multi-year plan to address the County’s challenges. Brim-Edwards’ funders speak for themselves. Learn more

Conservative donors flock to Brim-Edwards as they try to buy our local elections

Currently, 41% of Brim-Edwards donors also contribute to Republican gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazen and Portland conservatives, according to a new website, WhosBuyingPDX.com. This should raise serious concerns for voters in the Multnomah County chair race, where conservative Julia Brim-Edwards is running for chair, backed by 141 donors who also supported Christine Drazen. Learn more

Seven PPS School Board Members say Brim-Edwards is unfit for County Chair

Seven Portland Public School Board members who served alongside Brim-Edwards wrote a detailed letter explaining why they believe she is unfit to lead Multnomah County.

They wrote: The Multnomah County Chair has extraordinary authority over a sprawling system that has consequences – often life or death – for thousands of people. It demands a leader who can build trust, foster collaboration, manage effectively, think strategically, and deliver real results in service to the whole community. After working directly with her over many years, we do not believe that Julia Brim-Edwards is the leader Multnomah County needs.

Read the full letter here.‍

Beholden to corporate interests, Republican values

• She helped defeat a 2020 local transportation, bike, and transit measure. Brim-Edwards directed $900,000 in Nike funding to defeat a Metro-sponsored transportation measure in 2020, as the head of Nike’s Political Action Committee (PAC). Nike made the largest single donation against the measure, which would have invested millions in local roads, bike lanes, pedestrian projects, and transit, including part of the long-planned MAX line to Southwest Portland. Learn more.

• She pushed to cut voter-approved Preschool for All, a lifesaving program for working parents. In August 2025, Brim-Edwards introduced a proposal, at the behest of wealthy business lobbyists, to cut or pause the transformative Preschool for All. The program, supported by 64% of county voters, provides free preschool to families and saves upwards of $24,000 annually. After parents, preschool small businesses, and taxpayers vehemently protested against her proposal, Brim-Edwards withdrew it. Watch the session here.

• The top choice of the Portland Metro Chamber and other corporate leaders. United for Portland is funded by major contributions from the Portland Metro Chamber, corporate and business executives, among others. While they endorsed her campaign, you won’t see this endorsement on her campaign website. She has taken in thousands of dollars in donations from these corporate executives.

• She defended disgraced Senator Bob Packwood, who was forced to resign after nearly two dozen women accused him of sexual harassment. Brim-Edwards spent close to nine years working for the Republican senator, including her last three years as his Communications Director. After several women came forward, Brim-Edwards defended him and was part of an inside team tasked with digging up dirt on his accusers in an effort to discredit them. In all, more than 20 women came forward accusing him of sexual harassment, and Packwood was forced to resign in disgrace. Download a story from the Los Angeles Times.

• A Republican until 2008, she donated to conservative anti-gay Republicans like George W. Bush, Greg Walden, Gordon Smith, and more. Bush is known for leading this country into war in Iraq and Afghanistan and for getting re-elected with one of the most anti-LGBTQ campaigns in our nation’s history. Brim-Edwards stayed a Republican until her mid-forties.

• She ran Venture Capitalist and Republican Craig Berkman’s campaign for Governor, who was convicted of securities fraud. After leaving Packwood’s office, she served as Craig Berkman’s interim campaign manager as he ran for the Republican nomination for Governor. Berkman faced his own ethics scandal in 2013, when he was sentenced to six years in prison for securities fraud.

• Twice worked for Republican Bev Clarno. She worked for Republican Bev Clarno in two different administrations. After Berkman’s campaign, she served as communications director for Clarno, the Republican Speaker of the House. She later took a temporary position when Clarno became the Secretary of State. This role became especially controversial because she failed to disclose it to her PPS board colleagues and PPS staff while Clarno’s office was auditing PPS. Learn more.

• Her right-wing staff member was caught working for a conservative PAC political action on County time. Brim-Edwards is the top choice for local conservative political action committees. We learned that her communications manager, Vikki Payne, worked for both Future Portland and Brim-Edwards, and was fired after the story broke. The Portland Mercury reported she was fired shortly after it was reported she was doing PAC time on the job. This is the same Vikki Payne who was caught on a racist text thread during a Portland City Council meeting.

• Her ties to District Attorney Nathan Vasquez are a warning sign. At the County, Brim-Edwards has collaborated to push for increased spending on Vasquez’s “tough on crime” agenda while the County grappled with deep budget cuts to housing, health care, and homeless services. Amid more than $70 million in cuts to homeless services, Brim-Edwards focused on expanding the DA's budget, even though crime has fallen every year since the Biden Administration. She even offered dire warnings in TV interviews. The county’s purpose is to provide a social safety net for our neighbors who are living at the margins, not to enrich the DA’s office.

• She maintains close ties to conservatives and monied interests across the region. She may have changed her party registration, but she keeps warm relationships with our region’s conservative leaders, including leaders of the Portland Metro Chamber, which is expected to spend big on her behalf to be the County Chair. She is supported by the Republican firm behind the deceptive campaign People for Portland, Dan Lavey and Gregory Peden, as well as Lynne Saxton, the Goodman family leadership (Greg, Mark, Matthew, and Stephen), and Jordan Schnitzer.

A record of deception

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  She was in the backroom Moda Center deal: Public records show Brim-Edwards helped broker a deal with the Blazers to secure $900 million in taxpayer money to renovate the arena. Months later, as taxpayers began to revolt over the sweetheart deal for billionaire Tom Dundon, Brim-Edwards switched sides and began pushing back. She eventually joined three other Commissioners who voted yes on the County providing $100 million for the arena deal. 

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  She privately lobbied against PPS positions while on the board: Portland Public School board members learned on multiple occasions that Brim-Edwards lobbied against District positions while serving alongside them. They report that this jeopardized the integrity of District budgets and the effective pursuit of long-term improvement strategies. Read their full letter in the reference section.

• She secretly took a temporary position with the Secretary of State while the office audited PPS and she served on the school board: In 2019, Brim-Edwards took a temporary position in the Secretary of State’s office while that office audited Portland Public Schools. District leadership and her Board colleagues learned of this ethically questionable activity from press reports. Public agencies rely on impartial auditors, and specifically not on those led by members of the very district being audited.  After the news reports surfaced, she resigned from the role.

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  She tried to cover up the state audit of PPS's achievement gap between white and non-white students. In 2019, Oregon’s Secretary of State suggested Brim-Edwards was trying to cover up highly concerning audit findings. Several media outlets covered this story, including OPB and The Statesman-Journal.