A strong backing for two Black candidates
Portland School Board candidates Gary Hollands (left) and Herman Greene.
Two Black candidates won more than 70 percent of the vote to be elected to the Portland School Board Tuesday, joining incumbent Michelle Depass to give the seven-member panel three Black representatives for the first time in its history.
Herman Greene, the pastor at Abundant Life PDX Church, won a four way race for Zone 4 representing north Portland, capturing 73 percent of the vote; Gary Hollands, a small business owner and executive director of the nonprofit Albina Sports Program, captured 83 percent of the vote for Zone 5, representing northeast Portland.
Jaime Cale, a Black secretary at Rose Parks Elementary, fell short in her write-in campaign against Greene. While also gaining several endorsements from activists in the Black community, write in-votes reached just 4 percent of the total. Julia Brim-Edwards, the only incumbent, and a non-minority board member who led the search that resulted in the hiring of Guadalupe Guerrero as school superintendent, was re-elected with 80 percent of the vote.
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