It is a sign of how volatile the Portland mayor’s race has become. Jefferson Smith’s page in the Voter’s Pamphlet lists endorsements from several organizations and elected officials that no longer support him. Smith didn’t mean to fool anyone. They withdrew their endorsements after the page was submitted and the Voter’s Pamphlet went to press.

The endorsements were withdrawn after a more complete version the 1993 incident in which Smith hit a young woman in the face in Eugene finally emerged. Groups listed in the Voter’s Pamphlet that no longer endorse Smith include the Portland Police Association, the Portland Firefighters Association, state Rep. Carolyn Tomei, Multnomah County Commissioner Diane McKeel and the Mothers PAC, which advocates on behalf of families.

The timing also affected the page submitted by Charlie Hales, the other candidate for mayor. It does not include general election endorsements from the Portland Tribune and The Oregonian because they were made too late.

Now all those contributions add up

Sources was too quick last issue to say that Clackamas County Chair Charlotte Lehan is losing the fundraising race to challenger John Ludlow.

Although Ludlow outraised Lehan in the primary election, she has so far outraised him in the general election $125,000 to $88,000. The most recent filings also show Lehan has more than $48,000 in the bank compared to less than $16,000 reported by Ludlow.

A big reason for the change is the lack of general election contribution to Ludlow from the Oregon Transformation PAC. The Republican-oriented political action committee gave him more than $115,000 in the primary election but only about $27,000 since then. Ludlow has very few other large supporters, who include brothers Tom and Chris Maletis and the Oregon Small Business Association, a PAC primarily supported by conservative donor and Nevada resident Loren Parks.

In contrast, Lehan has been steadily pulling in large contributions from a growing number of labor, environmental and realtor organizations.