Portlanders now know the likely winners of a dozen 2025 City Council seats.

It’s a diverse group. The 12 include longtime union leaders, politicians, an economist, a nonprofit executive and a municipal continuity commissioner.

Of course, interest groups with something to lose or gain in the city — the business community, nonprofit contractors, unions — are already counting the votes to see if they have a majority to advance their political interests.

We count too. In fact, we did a power ranking of who has the ears of the city councillors, ordering from 1 to 5 who had the best election night.

1. TO THE UNION

The Northwest Oregon Labor Council, a coalition of the city’s largest public sector unions (including Oregon AFSCME, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and LiUNA), has approved eight of the 12 future city councilors: Tiffany Koyama Lane, Candace Avalos, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Dan Ryan, Eric Zimmerman, Olivia Clark, Jamie Dunphy and Steve Novick.

These unions represent all city employees. Several city labor contracts are close to expiring, meaning negotiations are either imminent or ongoing. Some of the demands made by the unions have caused the current City Council to give in, so the turnover promises a new era of solidarity.

Laurie Wimmer, executive secretary-treasurer of the Labor Council, says the political action committee convened this fall by her group, which included the firefighters union and the Portland Teachers Association, is “pleased that 11 of the 12 city councilors will be labor- friendly endorsed candidates.” (The 12th, Sameer Kanal, is also labor-friendly — he just entered the race late.)

2. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA

The socialist group, which wants to end evictions and investment in Israel, endorsed and aggressively defeated only two candidates in all four districts: Tiffany Koyama Lane in District 3 and Mitch Green in District 4. Both won council seats. Additionally, three other candidates are likely at least friendly to DSA’s policy goals: Sameer Kanal in District 2, Candace Avalos in District 1, and Angelita Morillo in District 3. So five of the 12 are likely open to the group’s goals.

“The election results are exactly what the Portland Metro Chamber feared when it opposed democratic reforms to the City Council in the first place,” says Brian Denning, Portland DSA co-chair. “The new council will include both endorsed candidates, three DSA members and five councilors who have signed our tenants bill of rights. We know the bosses and vested interests will oppose our agenda – but we have the power of a working-class movement tired of political inaction here and abroad.”

DSA’s policy priorities, Denning adds, include addressing “the cost of living crisis in Portland, environmental threats from corporations like Zenith Oil, and the spiraling US-funded genocide in Gaza.”

3. SOCIAL JUSTICE NONPROFITS

These include the Latino Network, the Coalition of Communities of Color and Green, all of which receive funding through city grants. That means they have something to protect.

Fortunately for these nonprofits, they have a particularly strong advocate on the incoming board — Candace Avalos, who will be stepping down from her current job as executive director of Verde — and a handful of others who are friendly with them, including Morillo, Green, Pirtle-Guiney, Dunphy and Novick.

Jenny Lee, director of a political action committee formed by social justice organizations to support progressive candidates this election cycle, says that “choice voting has led to the kind of city council that we envisioned, with a wide range of backgrounds , gender parity. and diversity in race, age, and experience.” Seven of the candidates supported by the PAC won a seat on the City Council.

4. PORTLAND SUBWAY CHAMBER

The chamber of commerce, formerly known as the Portland Business Alliance and long a policy engine in City Hall, has secured four candidates who could support most of its policy goals. The four include Dan Ryan, Olivia Clark, Eric Zimmerman and Loretta Smith. Others whom Chamber Metro has also supported – but are less likely to move in step with the wishes of the business community – include Elana Pirtle-Guiney and Steve Novick.

That gives the Metro Chamber six out of 12 supporters on the City Council — meaning it will compete, but might not win. This is a humiliating result for a faction used to getting their calls returned.

The House political action committee, United for Portland, has spent only modest amounts to promote City Council candidates. Instead, he spent most of the money on former Mayor Sam Adams’ bid for Multnomah County commissioner. No Dice: Shannon Singleton beat him.

The chamber says it is, however, satisfied with the 12 members of the new board. “Half of the newly elected council was directly supported by United for Portland,” says Metro Chamber Vice President of Public Affairs Jon Isaacs. “While there will be some ideological differences on the new board, I noticed throughout the campaign that there was broad agreement on the big priorities of ending homelessness, jump-starting housing production, improving public safety and to restore cleanliness and livability to Portland.”

5. PUBLIC SECURITY UNIONS

Perhaps no interest group seemed to have as much momentum in the election as the unions representing police and firefighters. But it’s unclear what kind of coalition the public safety unions can put together now.

The police union has five City Council winners they endorsed: Eric Zimmerman, Olivia Clark, Steve Novick, Dan Ryan and Loretta Smith. Five out of 12 is a strong showing, although the Portland Police Association’s endorsement of Novick is a little puzzling given his reputation as a staunch progressive during his last term on the city council.

Aaron Schmautz, PPA president, says the union is “committed to working with all of our newly elected leadership to continue to move toward a woven and comprehensive approach to addressing our most pressing issues.”

Schmautz declined to say whether he believes the PPA has enough votes on the City Council to advance its policy goals, such as increasing the number of officers to around 1,000.

The Portland Firefighters Association saw four of its endorsement selections make it to the board. While three were also endorsed by the police union, the fire union also endorsed Jamie Dunphy in District 1 — a bit of a surprise.